


Mixology

by CallMeJubilee



Category: Little Mix (Band), One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Bar, F/F, F/M, Gen, Mutil-ship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-26
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-02-14 22:07:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 51,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2204805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallMeJubilee/pseuds/CallMeJubilee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mixologist- a person who is skilled at mixing cocktails and other drinks.</p><p>So, hypothetically speaking, what would a few ounces of Love, Jealously, Arrogance, a splash of Stupidity, and Obliviousness, shaken, not stirred, and garnished with a cherry, make? ..A recipe for disaster, you say? Sounds like it'll put hair on your chest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

The music was loud, blaring through the speakers, decibels louder than necessary and the crowd loved it. They were too drunk to care, they were too high to care, they were having too much fun to care, and what the hell, it was Friday and all of them had probably gotten paid today.

Leigh-Anne's eyes skimmed around the crowd watching as their bodies mingled on the dance floor, and normally they didn't play their music this loudly. Somehow Jade had convinced Jesy and Perrie to play a different playlist of music tonight, they all assumed it was because Liam -Jade had a thing for the guy- was coming to visit and she wanted to "put on a show" for him. Jade mentioned earlier in the week that he was planning to drop by on Friday and she wouldn't stop talking about it; he had been busy with work and unable to spend time with her lately. 

"But you're not even dating!" Jesy pointed out sparing a quick glance at Jade who stood next to her cleaning shot glasses, she was always so sensitive and Jesy had made her cry on more than one occasion for being so blunt. 

"That's because he's been hurt before and he's scared it'll happen again," she said defensively, her eyes darting towards the door whenever she saw it open. She was on pins and needles waiting for him and it was slowly but surely grating on Leigh-Anne's nerves. The latter had reluctantly agreed to cover for Jade tonight when she and Liam finally took off to what, she and the others, hoped would lead to a hookup between the two so they could live happily ever after. 

Jesy scoffed at her answer, "That's a bullshit excuse that everyone uses. You tell us that he flirts with you all the time! That should be enough for you to have fucked his brains out by now."

"Jesy!" Jade scolded mortified and almost dropping the clean glass in her hand.

The older female rolled her eyes, you'd think Jade would be used to Jesy's sailor tongue by now.

"What? That's what I would've done, and he's fucking hot," Jesy replied nonchalantly. "He's kinda got that Justin Timberlake/David Beckham thing going on too? I'd hit it," she added as she refilled a shot for a customer infront of her. 

He was a frequent customer, dyed blonde hair and pretty blue eyes that secretly made Perrie jealous. When she was called out on it she would scoff, deny it, scoff again and respond with a, "Atleast I'm a natural blonde," followed by a dramatic hair flip to prove her point. Jesy couldn't remember his name, she thought it was Niull or something, she couldn't make out a word of what he had said when he introduced himself, his Irish (or was it Scottish? She wasn't sure) accent mixing with his drunken slur  made it impossible to understand him. Nice guy though, and he was very funny, he always had stories to tell about his friend named "Louis" ...or was it "Lewis?" Jesy couldn't remember that either.. she really needed to stop drinking on the job.

"But I'm not like you, Jesy, I can't just.." her voice trailed off when the door opened once again, her heart pounding wildly in her chest.

It wasn't him.

Shit.

"Yes, you can! You should make him a 'Throw Me Down and Fuck Me,' I'm sure he'll get the message," Jesy replied winking at Niull when his head snapped up at her words.

"I can't do that!" Jesy squealed covering her face with her hands in embarrassment to hide her heated cheeks. She wasn't as straightforward as Jesy was, or naturally seductive as Leigh-Anne, or even girl-next-door like Perrie was, and doing something so bold would undoubtably give her a stroke. 

"Fine, make him a 'Fuck Me In The Ass Sideways,' Liam should like it. He," she jabbed her thumb towards the blonde customer, "likes them. Don'tcha, Blondie?" She asked leaning over the countertop exposing some of her bountiful chest to him.

"Fuck you in the ass sideways? Yeah, I'd like that," he commented under his breath and checking his phone instead of checking out Jesy's breast. "Yeah, love 'em," he said louder for her to hear.

Jesy frowned, he hadn't even looked at her rack, all of the guys looked at her rack and enjoyed the view. It made her feel slightly offended, out of the four of them, she had the best (and biggest) pair of tits, he should feel honored that she even bothered to grace him with a peak!

"I-I can't," Jade said looking at Leigh-Anne for help, usually she was Jesy's wrangler, she would change the topic or get Jesy to lay off with the torment.

"Jade, stop saying that you can't, because you can.. And don't look at me like that, I agree with her. But maybe you should try something more subtle? Like a 'Lick Me Silly?'" Leigh-Anne offered and winking at a random customer near Perrie.

"No! I-I just- you guys aren't being helpful at all," Jade whined.

"Okay, okay. Try a 'Safe Sex on the Beach' if he doesn't get the hint, well..." Leigh-Anne trailed off, that meant Liam had to be incredibly dense, Leigh-Anne chuckled at the gagging sound Jesy made.

"Safe Sex? What is he, 15? Make a 'Doggy Style on the Beach' and then you guys can Doggy Style back at your place later," Jesy said and started to cackle when Perrie came up behind Leigh-Anne, bent her over and started thrusting.

"Jade, you feel so fucking good! Ahh, I'm gonna cum!" Perrie said throwing her head back and trying to imitate Liam's manly voice and accent.

"Yes, yes! Fuck me, Liam! Harder! Cum in my pussy!" Leigh-Anne screamed in her best "Jade voice" as she played along. "Faster! Fuck me faster!"

This is why they got so many tips every night.

"I-I can't, I'm gonna," Perrie gripped Leigh-Anne's hips tightly and gave one last thrust before they both screamed and moaned as they "came together."

"Fuck," Leigh-Anne panted wiping her forehead, "You're the fucking best, Liam." 

"Let's get married and move to England, but only after we've fucked in the shower. Now get going you dirty girl," Perrie said still giving her best Liam impression before letting go of Leigh-Anne, but not before spanking her friends butt.

"Oh, Daddy!" Leigh-Anne screamed and burst into a laughing fit. 

"I'm not friends with any of you right now," Jade huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, looking away from them and sticking her nose up in the air.

"But Jade," Leigh-Anne cooed rubbing her arm. "We are, friends for life," she sang and pinched her friends arm. "So you can't get rid of us."

"You're right, but temporarily, we're not friends," Jade stated rubbing the spot that was pinched, she bruised like a banana and that was never fun.

"So since we aren't friends "temporarily," I'm taking your share of the tips tonight," Jesy informed picking up the random dollars that were thrown on the bar. "Pez and Leigh's little performance just paid decently."

"What?!" Perrie screeched, putting a hand on her hip and titling it. "My sex skills deserve a better rating than 'decent!'"

"Yeah, and my pussy is sore from the pounding it just got!" Leigh-Anne added rubbing her crotch and giggled when a customer threw a five dollar bill on the counter towards her; they had too much at work.

Jesy shrugged counting the money, "Not my problem."

The door opened again and all of their eyes went towards the person entering.

"Uh oh, it's your man, Leigh," Perrie said elbowing said friend in the side with a teasing smile.

"Him? Why would you even say that?" Leigh-Anne asked watching as he slowly walked -was her, or was he sauntering very sexily?- towards the bar.

"He always sits at your end, and only orders something when you ask what he wants," Perrie stated eyeing him, he was very attractive though. A small part of her was envious, she wished he paid her as much attention he gave to her friend. Perrie tried flirting with him on occasion, all of them flirted with the customers, but he either ignored her completely or very politely shot down her offers for a quickie in the back room.  

"So? He just recognizes me as the best mixer here, that's all," Leigh-Anne said cockily and getting the ice for his drink, he ordered the same thing every time he came; which was pretty often. He had started coming in the summer and he always sat in the same spot, at the very end in Leigh-Anne's area, directly infront of where she normally stood to give Perrie enough room.

Her friends all scoffed and rolled their eyes.

"Do you even know the guys name?" Jesy asked from her end filling up Niull's glass again, he was avoiding her eyes now. He was acting strange, he hadn't said much of anything all night to her, which was rare. Most of the time they had interesting conversations about "Louis/Lewis" and what trouble he had gotten himself and Niull into. 

"I like calling him "Whiskey" and he doesn't seem to mind, but I think it's Zen or something; he said it so quickly that I only caught the Z," she replied calmly.

"Why call him that? Why don't you just call him, 'Z?'" Jade asked becoming curious, her suffering had ended and she honestly couldn't stay mad at any of them for longer than a minute.

Leigh-Anne smiled and looked at her friends, "It's the color of his eyes."

Perrie exchanged looks with Jesy and Jade, "Um..dark Bourbon?"

"Hmm," Leigh-Anne tapped her index finger against her chin while she was in thought. "I guess it depends on what mood he's in. Normally they're like a topaz color, but I suppose honey might describe them better? I don't know, I'll have to check."

Jesy chuckled and whispered, "But she said that isn't her man," into Jade's ear with a nudge.

"I heard that, Jesy-"

"Every fucking time! How does she do that?"

"-and he's not. So shut up." Leigh-Anne said pouring his usual over the ice. "He orders Whiskey all the time, too."

"Why didn't she say that first, then?" Jesy asked looking to Jade and Perrie who couldn't supply an answer.

"Whiskey" had a seat infront of Leigh-Anne and sent her an almost smile, he didn't smile much when she saw him, but his lips would quirk up into a smirk every so often.

"Your usual," she said pushing it words him, he nodded and put a bit more effort into making a smile.

"Thanks," he replied looking at her friends before raising the glass to his lips. They were eyeing him, more than the normal once over they would give him before they returned to work. His eyes meet Leigh-Anne's again and he titled his head ever so slightly towards the bunch; they always communicated this way.

"Ignore them, bitches be crazy," she said calmly and serviced another customer that called for her attention. When she looked over her shoulder at him he was staring back at her, his eyes clearly showing his amusement and she smiled at him.

"Fuck!" Jade yelled putting her phone back into her pocket. 

"Uh...Jade..?" Perrie asked cautiously looking at her friend after a moment, Jade never swore unless she was angry, and even then she would apologize immediately afterwards.

"He can't make it," she muttered, her eyes downcast and glaring at her heels, she'd worn them just for him today; he said something about liking women in heels. Jesy tutted and Perrie rubbed Jade's arm in comfort. "He's working late again."

"Is that what he said? I'd say he's cheating on you but you guys aren't even together," Jesy said flatly without thinking.

"Jes.." Leigh-Anne warned, shooting her a look.

"Shit! Well, you know what I mean! I'm not saying it to be hurtful, I'm just saying," Jesy explained.

"Well don't, you just-just shut the hell up, Jesy!" Jade snapped, surprising all of them, she had to really be upset to raise her voice and swear that way, and to Jesy of all people. 

Jesy sighed but said nothing, she'd apologize later. They all knew she had a bad habit of sometimes saying things before she thought them through. Plus Liam seemed like a nice guy, Jade should know he wouldn't cheat..even though they weren't a couple...yet. Jade was stressing herself out over nothing and Jesy couldn't understand it, all of them tried to get her to tell Liam how she felt and she always gave them excuses. Either she wanted to be with the Justin Timberlake/David Beckham look-a-like, or she didn't. "There are too many fish in the sea to miss one, or to let one stress you out," and that was Jesy's motto when it came to men and love.

"Leigh, I still want to leave early, is that okay?" Jade asked softly hugging Perrie before moving onto Leigh-Anne. 

"Yeah, that's fine. Go," Leigh-Anne gave Jade a quick hug and pulled back holding her arms. "Call me later?"

Jade sniffed and hugged Leigh-Anne again, "Okay."

"Okay," the curly haired woman said and watched Jade disappear into the back to get her things. Her dark eyes fixed on Jesy, "Dammit, Jes! I wanted to go home, thanks a  fucking lot!"

"What? She needs to grow a fucking backbone and get some thicker skin. You need to stop babying her, Leigh! She's an adult!" Jesy replied gripping a bottle of vodka angrily and pulling it up towards the counter.

"I don't baby her!" Leigh-Anne said defensively.

"Like hell," Jesy replied under her breath and looking at Niull. "What's your name?"

"Niall?" He asked unsurely, not because he didn't know his name, he wasn't that drunk yet, but because it looked like she was about to drag him into a bout of female drama that he wanted nothing to do with.

"Niall? You've been sitting here for awhile, so tell me, is Jade a-"

"Hey, hey, don't bring me into this, I'm just a drunk," he said raising his glass and looking at the other customers who seemed undisturbed by this little argument. "But maybe you shouldn't be so hard on her, she seems uh...sweet."

Jesy's eyes narrowed at him, "Sweet?"

"Yeah, she seems nice, so just ease up..?" He offered still trying to remain neutral, Leigh-Anne was glaring at him from her position and Perrie seemed to be ignoring it all. How did these girls function?!

"Whatever," Jesy muttered. They all knew Jade was oversensitive, just the thought of failure, rejection, and accidentally stepping on ants made her cry. "Did you want something else?" Jesy asked holding up the vodka bottle.

Niall laughed good-heartedly, "Throw me down and fuck me," he said lowering his voice to a more seductive one, feeling quiet satisfied with Jesy's smirk on her red lips.

"Your place or mine?" She wondered arching her eyebrow.

_x

"She gonna be okay?" Whiskey asked Leigh-Anne when it was almost time to close.

It was a small routine they had set, whenever she was closing he would stay and wait for her so he could walk her to her car. It was weird at first, he was some (attractive) stranger offering to walk her to her car at 4AM, but he said since there had been a lot of muggings lately he wanted to make sure she would be alright. He also had a sense of chivalry, he told her that he had sisters and it all made sense; and she always carried a switchblade in her pocket/purse just in case. After that, he continued walking her to her vehicle at night, telling her random things but never disclosing too much about himself. He hardly spoke while there were people around, but when they were alone he would attempt to make small talk with her. It was another thing the girls would tease her about, he never seemed to talk to any of them, only her.

"She'll be fine, she's tough," Leigh-Anne replied turning off the lights and locking the door behind them. "Hey, do you think I baby her, Whiskey?" 

He made the gesture of zipping his lips and throwing away the key before smirking when she elbowed him in a friendly way and laughed.

"I don't think you baby her, you're just compassionate," he said softly, dropping the smirk and watching her text someone as he started up his car remotely; it would be nice and warm when he pulled off. His hazel eyes scanned the parking lot for her vehicle, the only one there was his. "Where's your car?"

She looked up and smiled at him, "It's in the shop, I got into an accident the other day and-"

"You didn't tell me that, are you okay?" He asked concerned, she looked alright earlier, no visible scratches or bruises, but she was now covered up from her curly covered head to her boot clad toes in winter gear. 

"I'm fine, no pain or anything, though my face did hurt when the airbags went off," she joked, but it really had hurt, she almost cried. "The mechanics said they could save it so I wouldn't have to get a new one, and the guys insurance is paying for everything," she patted him on the shoulder to show him she was indeed, alright; she was getting a nice settlement check too but he didn't need to know that.

"Have you ever noticed that when you're driving, everyone driving slower than you is an idiot, and everyone driving faster than you is insane?" She asked randomly and looking back to her phone when the screen lit up.

"I've noticed... I think it has something to do with being narcissistic, we're always right and everyone else is wrong," he said thoughtfully. "I can give you a ride to your place if you need one?" He offered politely nodding towards his car and earning him a suspicious side glance from the woman beside him.

"I'm good, thanks," she declined. "I'm not going to my place tonight, I'm staying at a friends."

"Oh, a girls night?" He asked teasingly, she gave him a light shove and stuck her tongue out at him. 

"No, he should be here any minute.." She denied looking for her friends car, he should've been there by now.

"He?" Whiskey asked incredulously, that shot down his plan for finally asking her for her number tonight. 

"Yeah," she confirmed pocketing her phone.

"Oh, well..it's still cold out, did you want to sit in my car until he gets here? I have seat warmers," Whiskey offered, he wasn't drunk, but the alcohol had warmed his insides and that was more than what Leigh-Anne had going for her. She hardly ever drank when she worked, he noticed she would slide her shots that someone would order her, down to Jesy. Only on special occasions would she actually drink with the rest of her friends.

Leigh-Anne's hand in her coat pocket grabbed her knife, it's not that she didn't trust him, he'd been pretty trustworthy so far. It's just he's never offered to take her home or just sit in his car with him before...albeit he never had a reason to until now. She didn't know this man, she didn't even place his name, so she couldn't accept a ride from him.

"I'll be fine, he'll be here in a minute. You should leave though, I'm sure you have other things to do besides stand in parking lots talking to a bartender."

He shook his head in the negative and laughed, "No, not really."

"No? It's Friday you should do something, hang out with some friends or whatever," she said pulling out her phone when it vibrated in her pocket. 

"Can't, they're all busy, that's why I came tonight," he replied softly, he'd come every night just to see her if he could. He wouldn't miss the chance to see her dancing, singing and goofing around with her friends if he could help it.

"Nice to know you think of us when you have nothing better to do," she teased taking a peak at him from under her thick lashes. She felt a little guilty for flirting with him, but the man was fine. Matter of fact, he was more than fine. How there was still snow on the ground when there was a man as scorching hot as him walking around, was beyond her.

"Just you," he said looking for her male "friend" that was supposed to be picking her up. Her friend needed to learn a lesson in punctuality, he was keeping a lady waiting in the cold, and at a dangerous time.

"Excuse me?" She asked with mild shock, was he actually flirting back? He never flirted back, friendly chit-chat, sure, but he didn't flirt. Leigh-Anne transferred her phone into her left hand as her right one went back into her coat pocket to grab her weapon. He was acting differently, sure he showed his concern for her, that's what nice people usually did, but he's never flirted with her before; atleast not to her knowledge.

"I don't think of them, just you," he clarified, "I usually come just to see you."

Her grip tightened around the knife, he didn't seem threatening at all, his eyes showing his sincerity, but it was still scaring her. Why'd she let Dex, the bouncer, leave before her tonight?

"I was convinced that you only came for the drinks and to witness my friends and I argue or make a fool out of ourselves," she said going along with it.

"I suppose all of that is a bonus," he sighed and pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket. "Do you mind?" He asked her, he'd put them away if she didn't want him to light up near her.

"Not at all," he pulled out two, he tucked one behind his ear and he lit the end of the other inhaling deeply. "You know you can still leave, he's up the street.." she lied. He wasn't responding, she'd been texting Perrie to see if she could pick her up instead, he was so unreliable.

He blew some of the smoke out through his nose, the rest he tried making into smoke rings with his mouth. 

"I'll wait," he said taking another puff. 

"Whiskey, just lea-"

"It's Zayn... my name is Zayn," he informed politely. She'd been calling him "Whiskey" for months, he knew she'd forgotten his name, it was on one of those rare nights she drank with her friends. He liked the nickname though, it seemed affectionate coming from her, she had even confessed how she thought it was cute his eyes matched his drink. She said a lot of things to him that night, things she didn't seem to remember but he did.

"Zayn? That's... different, is it spelled, like,  Z-A-I-N?" She asked, she finally knew his name! 'Zen,' she was an idiot, what was she thinking?

"Originally, yes," he nodded exhaling, "I had it changed when I was younger, I liked this spelling more and thought it looked cool... Y not I," he added when he saw her about to ask.

"Oh, is this your way of telling me to stop calling you, "Whiskey?" Because I will, I didn't mean to-"

He chuckled at her, "You can call me whatever you'd like, Zayn, Whiskey...whatever. I've never had the chance to say anything about it to you until now," he said checking his own phone for the time. "This is the longest time we've spent together, uh..alone. I figured it was a good time."

"Uh, yeah, I guess so.."

"So, Leigh-Anne..." he said slowly, his eyes catching hers as she shivered. He had never addressed her directly before, usually he sent her looks to get her attention, and the way he said her name gave her chills; the good chills, she was already on her way to becoming a human popsicle. 

"Yeah?"

"Are you going to let go of that knife in your pocket? I'm not going to hurt you," he said calmly smoking the last of his Cancer Stick. "I'm not that kinda guy."

"What knife? I don't-"

"You work at a bar, you close late so it's dark, and you let a stranger walk you to your car every other night. I think there's a knife in your pocket, and if there isn't, there should be," he could tell that she had her hand clutched around something in her coat pocket. She still had her phone in her left hand and she wasn't left-handed, so she had to be holding onto something.

She didn't answer him, everything he said was true and it didn't stop her from holding the blade tighter.

"Can I see your phone?" He asked simply, stomping the butt of his cigarette out with his boots.

"No, you have your own phone."

"Yes, but I don't have Perrie's number," he continued.

"Oh, I think she likes you," Leigh-Anne stated, sure Perrie teased her about him, but she saw how her blue eyes would flicker to him with poorly concealed lust.

"I think she does too," he said dismissively. "Now your phone?" He urged.

"I can give you her number, it's 603-"

"I don't want her number!" Perrie annoyed him, she talked too much. He plucked Leigh-Anne's phone from her hands (she protested with a "Hey, give that back!") to see that she'd already been texting her blonde friend. Perfect. He sent Perrie a quick text with everything he thought was important and handed it back to a pouting Leigh-Anne after Perrie texted her/him back.

"C'mon, let's go," he said pulling on her arm gently. "I'm dropping you off."

"I'm not leaving with you." 

Zayn sighed and pulled her arm a little more forcefully, but not enough to scare her into thinking he was going to kidnap her; he was sure she'd use that knife of hers and getting stabbed by the girl he liked wasn't on his to-do list.

"Leigh-Anne, it's freezing, your friend is taking too long and I'm not going to leave you out here waiting for him. Perrie's expecting me to drop you off at home," he said trying to convince her.

Leigh-Anne looked at her phone to see that Perrie had sent her another text about using protection. 'Why would I need... Oh.' She saw Zayn's text to her, his full name, age, license plate number and that he was driving her home.

"Can we go now? I hate the winter," he said pulling her along easier now towards his car, he was freezing his balls off for her right now. He unlocked his car and opened the passenger door for her, she sent him an odd look but said nothing.

"Fuck, it's cold out there," he swore getting into the vehicle and rubbing his hands together as he let the heat soak through his coat and clothes to heat his body, his seat warmers were on too; they saved his precious jewels just in time. He pulled on his seat belt and watched Leigh-Anne do the same, she wiggled her hips getting used to her butt being hot, an odd sensation that was.

"Thanks," she mumbled looking out the window.

"It's no problem at all, I just wish you would've told me sooner that he wasn't coming. It's too cold to stand outside for so long," he said putting his vehicle into drive. "You could get sick."

"I didn't want to bother you," she said quietly looking at the sign of the bar, "Little Mix," she wondered if she'd ever leave and get a proper job.

"It's no bother, and I offered didn't I? Plus I know you don't trust me, which makes sense; you're just now learning my real name, but it's cool," he replied pulling towards the exit. "Left or right?"

"Make a left."

It was a nice ride to her place filled with some of the same small talk they usually had after closing time, he didn't flirt with her anymore and Leigh-Anne was a little irked by it. She wanted him to flirt with her, maybe ask for her number so they could talk as much as they wanted instead of being restricted to the two or three minute conversations they had on the way to her car. She hadn't realized how opinionated Zayn was until now, they were sitting outside of her house, leaned back in their seats and still talking. They had been discussing the pros and cons of outsourcing jobs and what solutions they had come up with and agreeing that the government needed to turn to them for all of the answers. So not only was Zayn attractive, but he was intelligent too, he had used words that even she didn't understand, which amazed her; she was such a nerd at times. 

"I've never heard you talk so much," she commented after he made a terrible political joke that she didn't have a choice but to laugh at.

"Usually I'm not this talkative," he explained shimmying in his seat and peaking at her when she chuckled, she had the most adorable laugh he had ever heard.

"Because most of the time you're a mute and I have to force you to talk to me on the short trip to my car," she teased, this was the most she had ever seen him smile too. He had a great smile and a nice laugh, she found it cute how his tongue would press against the back of his teeth when he did.

"I'd talk to you willingly, just not while you're working," he said looking at the digital clock in his car, they had sat there for an hour just talking and having a good time. He was shocked she hadn't gotten out of his car as soon as they pulled up infront of her home. "Your friends are interesting, to say the least."

"Yeah, they're a special bunch," she agreed checking the time herself. "I um..I should get going. I'm sitting here wasting your gas since you have the heat on, and I could've been inside my house."

"If you- uh..nevermind," he backed out, he couldn't do it, he couldn't ask her for her number. It would be too weird if she said no and then he would have to avoid going to the bar to see her...This was Danny's fault, he was the one who convinced him that tonight he should ask for it. He knew Zayn was shy but the way Zayn had started pining for the bartender had him fed up, he was close to coming to the bar himself and getting her number FOR him.

"If I, what?" she asked hopefully, Zayn seemed like a really cool guy, she wouldn't mind talking to him outside of the bar...or the parking lot...or his car. There was so much she wanted to know his opinion on and she knew she wouldn't be able to get him talking at work.

"I uh," he sighed running a hand through his dark mane thinking 'Fuck it.'

"I was thinking that maybe we could talk a little more? Not right now, you should be tired, but some other time maybe? Like, we could text or something? Feel free to say no."

She beamed at him. "Yes."

"Yes?" He echoed turning on his side to look at her.

She mhmm'd and nodded. "I was thinking about asking you for yours, but I didn't want to make it weird if you said no.."

"Why would I say no?" He could never tell her no.

"Because I let my friends dry hump me at work?" She asked arching a perfect eyebrow.

"That's a very legit reason," he agreed chuckling.

_x

The incessant ringing of her doorbell roused he from her sleep, she was exhausted and hadn't realized it until she had showered and laid down on her soft mattress. She muttered curses and she rubbed her eyes and went to her front door to look out the window, her sleepy eyes narrowing at the person who had now taken to banging on her door and yelling. She quickly unlocked it, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and yanked him inside of her home, he stumbled some and caught his balance on the side of her chair as she locked her door.

"Where the hell were you?"

...

"What?!" She said shocked and making an angry face at him. "I waited for you and you never texted me back, I had to try to get Perrie to pick me up."

"What? No, it's only," he looked at his watch for the time, "shit."

"Yeah, "shit," and I had to get a ride from one of my regulars because you didn't show up. Who is she now, Harry?" Leigh-Anne asked impatiently crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her foot impatiently.

"You know how I feel about you getting rides from these random guys," Harry said ignoring her question.

"I wouldn't have needed a ride if you had shown up like you said you would! And don't ignore my question. Who. Is. She. Harold?" Leigh-Anne snapped balling her hands into fists.

"That's not even my name, and she's nobody important," he huffed stripping off his shirt and throwing it over his shoulder and heading towards her room.

"She must be important if you picked her over me," Leigh-Anne stated following him to the bedroom.

"I didn't pick her over you, I just-"

"Picked her over me. Hey! Don't lay down in my bed!" she yelled when he climbed on it. "Take a fucking shower and get that cheap ass perfume and lipstick off your skin."

"I don't want to do this right now, Leigh. Can't it wait until the morning?" He sighed heading towards the shower.

"You could always go home," she said climbing back under the thick covers of her bed. "I don't know why you even bothered coming here. If you checked your phone you would've known I was home."

"It's dead.."

"Of course it is, Harry, of course it is. It's always dead when I need a small favor from you," she scoffed closing her eyes, he drove her crazy sometimes. 

"You need to calm down and stop acting like you're my damn girlfriend!" he hissed slamming the bathroom door behind him.

Leigh-Anne's eyes flew open and she sat up quickly, ready to bless him out, not only for the girlfriend comment but for slamming her door; he saw that she was trying to go back to sleep, that dick.

"Fuck you, Harry!" She screamed loud enough for him to hear over the running water of the shower.

"Well fuck you too, Leigh-Anne!" He yelled back.

"I swear to fucking-Ugh! I hate him so- that asshole always- Fuck!" She muttered in broken sentences pulling the covers over her head, parts of her curly fro peaking out.

Ten minutes later she was in that state of almost asleep but still partially awake, she felt Harry's arm slither around her and pulling her into his shower heated flesh. He buried his face in the crook of her neck and kissed behind her ear.

"I hate you, Harry," she mumbled sleepily.

"No, you don't," he whispered against her skin.

"Yes, I do," she argued with a yawn.

"You don't," Harry said and kissed her neck again. "I'm sorry."

"I know," she murmured. "You're always sorry."

He sighed and nuzzled into her neck more. "...It was bad this time, really bad. It had a smell so we just-"

"I don't wanna hear bout it, Harry," she interrupted. "I want to dream, not have a nightmare."

"Okay," he conceded softy. "I love you."

"Love you too, now shut up!" she whined and elbowed him lightly.

"Okay."

____xx

 

 


	2. 2

Jesy nudged Leigh-Anne for the second time in one minute during rehearsals and Perrie had just started her verse to the song.

"What?!" she whispered watching Perrie bob her head and sway her body offbeat to the music. Perrie wasn't the best dancer around but was it always fun to see her move...well, try to move.

Jesy lips stayed sealed but her green eyes flitted over to Jade, back to Leigh-Anne, then back to Jade again. Her head titled in Jade's direction and Leigh-Anne made a hand signal and a face at her. She wanted to stay out of it this time, she was getting sick if making Jesy apologize to one of them, usually Jade, when she ran off at the mouth. She only had to say sorry and let that be the end of it...until it happened all over again in a few weeks.

Leigh-Anne and Jade sang the chorus together and Jesy poked Perrie next and her blue eyes looked up to make contact with Jesy's briefly. Jesy nodded over to Jade once more and Perrie shrugged, bringing the copy of the lyrics Leigh-Anne had written in her hand, back up to her face for the bridge of the song. Jesy sighed seeing that Perrie was a dead end and poked Leigh-Anne where it tickled.

"Stop!" Leigh-Anne yelled slapping Jesy's hands, causing Perrie to stop singing, the instrumental still playing in the background filling the rest of the empty bar.

"Just say it, Jesy, and stop fucking around!" she snapped, turning to the speaker dock to stop the music. "We've got to get this done!"

She worked hard on this damn song, and now thanks to Jesy, they had to stop and start all over again! Tulisa wasn't going to be happy with them if they didn't get this song down soon.

"But-"

"No buts, Jesy! Just apologize!" Jade who had pulled out her phone when it beeped, probably a text from Liam, looked at Jesy expectantly.

That was their routine, Leigh-Anne twisting Jesy's arm so she'd apologize and Jade accepting before all of them hugged it out and went back to whatever they'd been previously doing.

Jesy snorted and rolled her green eyes. "I'm not apologizing."

"What?" Jade asked, her eyes wide and blinking rapidly in shock.

"I. Am not. Apologizing," Jesy replied slowly, breaking it down for her, like she was a student in a remedial English class.

"Oh, here we go," Perrie sighed slapping her forehead and having a seat in one of the stools, her hand balled into a fist as she leaned on it and watched with disinterest.

"Why not?" Jade wondered obviously bewildered, Jesy always apologized the next day and here she was saying that she wasn't? ...What even?

"Why should I apologize? Because I didn't say anything that wasn't the truth, Jade. You can be such a damn crybaby and you need to cut it out. You're a grown ass woman, act like it for once!" Jesy said pointing an angry finger at her friend.

"I'm not a crybaby!" Jade exclaimed looking to Leigh-Anne for some sorta of confirmation or refutation.

"Yes the hell you are! And stop looking over to Leigh for help everytime I try to toughen you up! She's not your damn mother so stop sucking on her fuckin' tit!" Jesy yelled exasperatedly.

"I don't-"

"You do! I can't even breathe in your direction the wrong way without you getting teary eyed and crying to Leigh about me being mean. I'm not mean to you on purpose, Jade! I don't try to pick on you or intentionally hurt your feelings, but everytime I speak my mind you get upset! What am I supposed to do? Not speak at all??" Jesy asked, her arms flailing wildly.

Jade sniffled rubbing her eyes and Jesy groaned.

"Exactly! Fuck! Just cry me a damn river already, Jade!"

"Okay, okay, that's enough," Leigh-Anne intervened pulling Jesy by the elbow and towards the back room, they didn't need this to happen right now.

"Don't touch me, Leigh-Anne!" Jesy snapped smacking her hand from her arm. "This is exactly what I'm talking about! She can't even defend herself because you're always jumping to her damn rescue! You aren't helping her, Leigh, you're crippling her every time you speak for her. If Jade has a problem she should say something herself!"

"I said 'that's enough,' Jesy!" Leigh-Anne tugged her elbow again. "We'll practice separately today."

"No, she's right," Jade mumbled in a weak voice.

"Alas! She speaks!" Jesy mocked, putting her hands on her hips. "Go ahead, say something, Jade."

Jade wiped her eyes again and looked Jesy, straight in the eyes, determined to not cry before her and atleast be strong for this moment; she could cry to Leigh-Anne later.

"I'm sorry," Jade apologized lowly.

"For?" Jesy prodded, it was about damn time! "Repeat after me: For being a spineless-"

"I'm sorry that you're such a bitch, Jesy," Jade stated and watched the older girl's jaw unhinge. "I'm sorry that I'm not a slut like you, who that can tramp around with whoever and not care about it the next day!"

There was an awkward silence throughout the bar and as Perrie gaped at Leigh-Anne with saucer like eyes, Jesy threw her head back in an obnoxious laugh and howling at the end of it.

"Oooh! Kitty's got claws! Meow!" Jesy taunted throwing her hands forward and curling her fingers as if they were actually claws. "C'mon Jade, hiss at me a little more! You can do it! C'mon little kitty cat!"

Jade took three steps towards Jesy, stopping when they were face to face.

"I'm sorry that you have such a low self-esteem that if any guy so much as glances in your direction you're ready to get on your knees and suck his dick. I bet you took Niall home last night, didn't you? Fucked his brains out really good? Let him fuck you in the ass sideways because you're just that big of a whore? I'm sorry that you'll just-just settle for anyone!" Jade yelled and angrily stomping her feet, her face heating up in anger.

"Jade, I love ya, but you better get the hell outta my face," Jesy sneered lowly, her hands clenching and unclenching at her sides. Perrie and Leigh-Anne gave each other the quickest of looks before they went to Jesy's side, ready to stop her from punching Jade in the face. Jesy had a temper and it wasn't wise to push her because she'd push back, there were so many fights she had almost gotten into at the bar. If it wasn't for Dex stopping her, Jesy would be rocking a mean ass orange jumpsuit and facing a few years in prison for assault charges.

"Why? Because I'm telling YOU the truth? You don't like it, do you, Jesy? Having someone you care about...just.." Jade sniffled, her eyes welling up with tears before they spilled over. "I like, Liam, okay?! I'm sorry I don't want to ruin what we have because I don't know his feelings towards me. I'm sorry I can't, that I can't.."

Jade covered her face with her hands and started to cry into them, Perrie took her in her arms, leaning her face into the shoulder of her sweater to cry in. Leigh-Anne placed a cautious hand on Jesy's shoulder and pulled her away towards the backroom like she had originally planned.

"Thirty?" she asked Perrie who nodded and whispered into Jade's ear, rubbing smoothing circles on her back to calm her crying.

"The fuck was that, Jesy?" Leigh-Anne pulled on her hair pacing back and forth, now they'd behind even more on the song; Tulisa was going to be less than thrilled. "Why didn't you just apologize? Now she's out there crying her eyes out because-"

Jesy let out a shaky breath of her own that caught Leigh-Anne's attention, her fists trembling before she sniffled loudly and wrapped her arms around herself.

"J-Jesy?" Leigh-Anne stuttered out reaching for her.

"That little bitch!" Jesy yelled swiping at her green eyes and throwing herself on the black sofa face down so she could cry into one of the pillows.

"You were egging her on, Jes," Leigh-Anne said softy.

"That didn't mean she had to go and say that!" she yelled removing her head from the pillow to speak.

"Jesy," she sighed rubbing her temples. "It's like the same thing you've been telling her for the longest. That's she's too uptight, that she's a prude, that she should just become a nun and try to get lucky with a statue of Jesus..."

"I don't have a low self-esteem," Jesy mumbled into the pillow before sitting up straight. "I just like.."

"The attention," Leigh-Anne finished for her, a sad smile on her lip, and having a seat beside her. Her bronze arm wrapped around Jesy's shoulder and the older girl leaned on her.

"Leigh..?"

"Yeah, Jes?" she hummed in acknowledgment.

"I hate it...you know what I mean," she said sniffling. "I've tried and..it doesn't work. It won't work. I was okay with it at first but now.."

"There's nothing wrong with you, Jesy. You're perfect," Leigh-Anne replied comforting her with small rubs on her leg.

_x

"Hello my beauties!" Tulisa greeted walking into the bar, heels clicking with every step.

Everyone mumbled their greetings as they cleaned and prepped for that night, Jesy and Leigh-Anne worked on mopping the floors while Jade and Perrie cleaned the shot glasses, cups, mugs and such, and went to get new bottles from the basement.

"Is that how you all greet me? Like I'm some random person on the street?" she wondered setting her bag down on the freshly cleaned bar counter. They all stopped what they were doing and went to hug her, Tulisa could be a pain at times but they loved her and she loved them too...in her own way.

"We're so glad you're back! We've missed you so much, Tulisa!" they shouted in unison.

"I've missed you girls too, now get off me," she said chuckling half-heartedly and patting each of them on the head when they let her go. "So what do you all have for me today?" she asked rubbing her gloved hands together. "I hope it's something good!"

"Well, we um.." Perrie cleared her throat nervously and Jade played with her hair while Jesy wrung her fingers.

"What happened this time?" Tulisa crossed her arms over her chest. "I love all of you, but don't think I still won't fire you cute skanks. I run a business here, and if this continues I-"

"It was my fault," Leigh-Anne spoke, taking a step forward and avoiding Tulisa eyes. "I take full responsibility. I-I... couldn't finish writing the song last night," she lied.

"Leigh, don't-" Jade said but shut up when Jesy elbowed her roughly in the ribs. "Ouch.."

Tulisa ignored Jade's interruption and looked Leigh-Anne up and down. "Why? What were you doing that was more important than this?" Tulisa opened her arms to gesture to the bar.

"I never wanted to hire four bartenders in the first place, Leigh-Anne, two at the most. And I'm not asking much from you girls, just for you to do your job! I've even let you perform since that what you four love to do." Tulisa looked at Jesy whispering to Perrie and snapped.

"Are you talking while I'm talking, Jessica?!"

Jesy pulled away from the blonde shaking her head and straighten up. "No ma'am."

Tulisa's eyes narrowed sharply at her blatant lie and she looked back at Leigh-Anne. "So please enlighten me, Leigh-Anne, what's more important than singing and dancing for a crowd that loves your talent?"

"Nothing, Tulisa," Leigh-Anne responded in monotone, head hung and looking at the floor; she was too old for this shit.

"Atleast have the gall to look me in the eye when you lie to me, Leigh-Anne," the older woman scoffed.

She picked her head up and stared at her boss unflinchingly.

"Nothing, Tulisa," she repeated but louder.

"It's that boy, isn't it?" she asked slowly. "Harry?"

"No, it's not Harry," Leigh-Anne denied, almost rolling her eyes. They got into another argument this morning but Harry promised he would pick her up tonight. Leigh-Anne wasn't sure he would, but they would see how things played out when the time came.

"So it's that other boy?" Tulisa pushed.

"There is no other boy. There's no boy at all!"

"No? Then who's the boy Perrie's always going on about?" she inquired. "Zed? Whiskey? Something like that?"

Leigh-Anne looked over her shoulder at said friend and glared at her, Perrie had the nerve to look sheepish and look towards the ceiling.

"Nobody. He's just a regular."

"I don't believe you. Finish the song tonight, if it's not done by tomorrow, we'll see if you still have a job on Monday," she threatened. "Just because Sarah and I are friends doesn't mean I won't fire her little sister. Remember that, Leigh-Anne."

"Yes, Tulisa," she droned.

"Alright...now come here," she yanked Leigh-Anne into her arms by her hand and hugged her. "All of you. Bring it in, group hug."

Each of the girls wrapped their arms around the pair with a heavy sigh, if they didn't have anyone else, atleast they had each other.

"'Little Mix' on three. One, two, three!"

"Little Mix!" they yelled and let each other go so they could pick where they left off with their cleaning.

"Okay girls, I've got to run and see Simon," Tulisa declared grabbing her purse.

"Will you be back for the show later?" Jade wondered going back behind the bar with Perrie while the other two picked up their mops once more.

"No, but I expect to see you all bright and early tomorrow and with a song." She sent a sharp look at Leigh-Anne who ducked her head.

"Oh...okay," Jade replied sadly with a small pout.

"Pip pip!" she announced heading towards the door. "Leigh-Anne, lock up tonight."

She gasped, she locked up last night since she switched with Jade! It was Perrie's turn to lock up!

"But I-"

"No excuses. You heard me, and I wasn't asking," she growled out lowly and walked out the door, closing it with a loud slam.

"Bitch," Jesy swore wringing out her mop. "Did you hear her? 'Pip pip!'" Jesy mocked rolling her eyes. "I think Simon's fucking the Brit into her. She always comes in here and acts like she owns the damn place."

"That's because she does, Jessica!" Perrie teased from her place, making sure each bottle was lined up perfectly.

"Fuck off, Perald!" Jesy shot back, giving her the finger.

"Why don't you fu-"

"How about the both of you shut up?" Leigh-Anne snapped mopping the floor angrily, she barely got any rest last night with Harry's vicious snoring and arguing with him was always mentally exhausting. Now she had to lock up again when she wanted nothing more than to go home, lay in bed and have a good nights rest.

"Why do you do it?" Jesy asked. "Everytime we fuck up, you always take the blame... Why?"

Leigh-Anne gave her a wide smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Because I actually like you cute skanks."

"We love you too, Leigh!" Jade yelled blowing her kisses from the bar. "But I love you the most!"

"You know she's not going to fire you, she's all hot air," Perrie added before going to the back room to get another spout and more stirring spoons.

"One of these days she just might," Leigh-Anne muttered.

Tulisa's attitude towards her was dependent on how her friendship with her sister was at the time. If they were arguing, Tulisa would be such a hard ass, and if they were great, she'd be almost like her sister again...

"Hey, Jade?" Jesy asked putting her mop in the dirtying water and walking towards the tiny girl.

"Y-yeah..?" Jade refused to look at her and focused her attention on the most expensive bottles of alcohol they had in stock.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier," she mumbled. Apologies weren't her thing, Jade was one of the few people she ever apologized to these days and that was only because Leigh-Anne forced her to.

"I'm sorry too." Jade sniffled. "I d-didn't mean it. I-I didn't mean to-"

"For the love of- come here," Jesy demanded pulling Jade into a bear hug, rocking her back and forth, Jade was almost suffocated by the huge pillows that were Jesy's chest.

"Don't start crying again. Dammit, Jade! Don't cry!"

"You two have a terrible love-hate relationship," Perrie commented chuckling.

"Didn't I tell you to fuck off?" Jesy asked raising her eyebrow.

"I just did that in the back room," Perrie replied slyly, winking as she circled her nipples, and moaned while licking her lips.

"Doesn't take much for you to get off then," Jesy snorted and looked down at Jade. "But I am sorry.. I'll try not to..be so me..?"

"It's okay, Jesy. I'll try not to be a spineless, whatever you were gonna say." Jade sniffled patting her eyes dry with a napkin from under the counter after she wriggled out of Jesy's hold.

"One more thing about earlier Jade?" Jesy asked. "I wasn't going to apologize then, I just wanted you to know that you were flat during your verse."

Jade's eyes flew open. "I was not! I'm never flat!"

"Well you were today," Jesy stated.

"No, I wasn't! That was you!" Jade accused pointing at her.

"Babe, I hit all of my notes everytime. I think you need to get your hearing checked," Jesy laughed waving her off.

"Oh my God! Not again!" Leigh-Anne groaned finishing the corner Jesy had left her with.

"Ding! Ding! Ding! Round two!" Perrie cackled shaking her head. "My money is on Jade this time!"

_x

"So about last night," Niall said awkwardly to Jesy while shyly rubbing the back of his neck. They went to her place and made a mess of it, he felt bad for dipping out in the morning while she was still asleep.

"What about it?" Jesy was trying to concoct a pretty float for an older lady who looked miserable, and needed to get fucked up tonight. Jesy figured that the woman probably caught her husband cheating or she was cheating on him, she kept glancing at her wedding ring, making a move to pull it off before deciding against it with a sigh and taking another shot.

"I'm sorry, I should've stayed and-"

"Why would you stay? One nighters are supposed to leave in the morning." She shrugged, it wasn't like he'd stop coming to the bar.

"Yeah, but," Niall paused and fixed his bleached quiff, "I was sloshed and I left with yer place in shambles. I made a mess with the chocolate syrup and I know there's chocolate handprints on yer sheets.."

It was her idea to add it to their festivities and he wasn't going to protest when he had something akin to a food fetish. God, it was like she knew his sexual fantasies without meaning to. He knew he liked her, he already kept her laughing when he was there just to hear her laugh and watch her smile, and thought she was this beautiful, thick Goddess that he wouldn't mind worshipping, but last night...he was sure he fell in love with her.

Jesy chuckled to herself, that was some kinky shit Niall had done with his tongue and that chocolate, and he was right, there were prints everywhere. On her covers, the pillowcases and there was even chocolate on the floor. Jesy almost had a stroke when she got out of bed this morning and stepped right in it. She knew it was wet, sticky, brown and on the bottom of her foot, what more did she need to know before screaming so loudly she almost shattered the windows and mirrors in her bedroom?

"I've gotta get my carpet cleaned, but my sheets and pillows are washed. It was fun," she complimented. Jesy didn't think he could actually pick her up, but he did and fuck, the way he manhandled her was perfect.

"Fun?"

Jesy nodded with a grin. "Yeah. Fun."

"Well you know what wasn't fun?" Niall asked aloud.

Jesy paused and chewed her lip. "Everything was fun, but what?"

"The scratches on me back, they hurt like hell, Jesy," Niall stated in a small slur, looking her in the eyes; he really did love her eyes.

Niall had almost considered getting stitches this morning when he pulled off his shirt from last night and saw that there was some blood on it.

Jesy laughed. "You didn't say anything about it last night."

"Cause it was 'fun' last night, now it just hurts," he half whined. Each time he twisted the wrong way he could feel the fresh scab being stretched and opening only to bleed and try to heal again.

"Well maybe I'll kiss it to make it feel better?" Jesy questioned leaning over the counter, breasts on full display and you're damn right Niall looked this time. He'd already seen her naked, and he would never look away from her cleavage again so help him God.

Niall licked his lips in memory of the taste of her skin and answered, "I'd like that. I'd like that a lot."

"Do those hurt too?" Her hand quickly ran across her collarbone and up her neck. "Damn, I sure did a number on you, didn't I?" she howled with a slick grin.

"Oh these? No," Niall replied touching the lovebites she left. "I like these, they're a nice souvenir." He'd almost given her a huge one on her thigh, but with the prize right in his face he couldn't wait any longer, he needed to taste her properly.

"Good, I have to keep my nickname intact." Jesy moved out of the way when Perrie bent down to grab two mugs.

"And what would this nickname be? Mosquito?" Niall joked and Jesy smirked; that would be a horrible nickname.

Perrie's blonde head popped up comically as she chirped out, "Man-eater!"

Niall chuckled to himself, his eyes closed in remembrance of last night, he had thought about it all day at work and almost burned himself.

"Sounds right to me." He nodded opening his eyes to see Jesy frowning, his eyebrow lifted in questioning.

"Are you calling me a tramp, Blondie?" Jesy hissed narrowing her eyes and Niall sobered up quickly, the last thing he wanted was to be on her bad side after what had just transpired between them last night.

"What? No! Just the whole dominant woman persona!" Niall said quickly in his defense. "Yer nothing like a tramp!"

"Of course I'm not," Jesy scoffed, swinging her hair over to her other shoulder and running her hand through it. "I'm a lady."

"Yeah!" Niall agreed eagerly with rapid nods of his head. "Yer a lady, and since yer a lady, I'd like to maybe take you out sometime..?"

The invitation was open, though every bone in his body desperately wanted her to say 'yes.'

"Kinda late to ask me out after we've fucked, don'tcha think?" Jesy laughed as she accepted the head piece Leigh-Anne was handing out and put it on.

"So? I'd still like to take you out," Niall said confidently throwing back another gulp of his beer.

"Why? If you just want another go at this," Jesy ran her hands over her curves, "for one, you're gonna lose again, and two, you could just say so. Let's not beat around the bush here, Blondie."

Niall didn't quite agree about him "losing," he was sure he won after she bit the hell out of his neck so she didn't burst his ear drums with her final scream, but he'd take it. That lovebite was definitely his favorite mark he recieved from her, but losing to Jesy in that way was still a win in his book.

"I want to take you out 'cause I can tell we have a lot in common. But afterwards, I'd like another go, even if I lose. How'd that sound, Jesy?" he wondered. Maybe he was drunk a little bit earlier than usual?

He wasn't normally so straight forward with women, but he could commend himself for having bigger balls than that one "Whiskey" guy that the girls annoyed Leigh-Anne with. Maybe it was a guy thing, but he could see how much he admired and adored her. Drunk, half drunk, or not drunk in the slightest, Niall didn't care, he would ask Jesy out even if he was sober... He'd be one helluva nervous wreck, she was intimidating fuck, but he'd do it!

"I'll think about it, Niall." Jesy smiled softly.

Out of all of her one night stands Niall was the nicest, she saw the others that would come to the bar and they'd just pretend in never happened and forget about it. He even went out of his way and apologized for leaving in the morning and one nighters didn't do that, they stayed faithful to the script. Niall was the second guy to actually ask her out, the other was some atrocious monstrosity that had Jesy wondering how much she drank, if he slipped something in one of her drinks when she wasn't looking, and if she could build a time machine so she could stop herself from making that mistake again. She cried in the shower that day when she woke up beside him in bed, he smiled at her -atleast she thought it was a smile- and was spouting his love for her and their future plans together. After Jesy heard the word "wedding" she literally picked the guy up, along with his clothes, and threw him out of her house; she found a new place to live too since he had her address.

"Yeah, you think about it," he whispered to himself. He'd heard her say that to others and that always meant "No, fuck off," in Jesy-Speak.

"What's the song for t'night?"

"Your favorite," Jesy replied stretching and waiting for the girls and everyones attention.

They performed every Saturday, sometimes on Friday and every third Monday of the month, the regulars liked to call it "Mixer Monday." But on slower business days they'd sing one of their more sentimental songs that would have everyone over emotional and crying over the lyrics.

There was shuffling between the four of them so they would be in their starting positions, Leigh-Anne gave everyone a nod, cut the music and made the general announcement about their performance in a minute. The drunkards scooted back in their seats with their trusty liver killer in hand, knowing how much they moved around and all empty glasses were moved and ready to be cleaned.

"Ready?" Jade asked turning to her left and right to check, they looked ready and each gave her a nod.

Leigh-Anne pushed play on the remote in her pocket and the instrumental flowed through the speakers, they pursed their lips, smiled and smirked to the opening before Jade started singing her verse, the rest dancing to the song. "Move" was the crowds favorite song and the regulars knew the words and would sing with them.

Soon the door burst open loudly with a disheveled Zayn coming through, huffing and puffing like he just ran to get there. 'Made it,' he thought listening to Perrie sing a familiar tune, and that meant he didn't miss Leigh-Anne's part.

Jesy's part came on and she made eye contact with Niall during it, she winked at him and his pale cheeks flamed, and not because of the beer. She always winked at him during her verses and he always blushed...he really needed to get that under control.

Zayn wriggled his way through sweaty bodies up to the front where he could see them (her) clearly. Leigh-Anne caught his eyes when she hopped on the bar counter to dance and smiled gently before her face became serious, her verse coming on.

"Oh, Silly! Why you afraid? Don't be a big baby! Quit playing games," she sang teasingly watching how Zayn's eyes followed her movements closely from the moment she opened her mouth, and because she had a tendency of making a spectacle of herself, she jumped off the bar, grabbed him and he yelped in surprise; forcing him to dance with her, swaying her hips from side to side. She did as the song said and,

"And put your arms around me, you know what to do... And we can take it down looooooowwww!" She gyrated on him slowly as they went down lower and lower.

Zayn wasn't a dancer by any means, he didn't dance, he refused. If Zayn was to dance, he would have to be on something, yet he was sorta dancing with the woman he'd be crushing on for months...where everyone could see him, rocking to the beat with her. (Wait til Danny heard about this.)

Perrie's loud voice boomed through the speakers and Zayn jumped away from Leigh-Anne, she smiled at him and continued dancing to the original routine. Perrie and the girls were going be hot on her ass about her little impromptu choreography, but it wasn't like they hadn't broke it before.

Leigh-Anne found her place back on the bar and moved along like she was supposed to, waiting for her next part where she stood front and center. She rapped and shook her hips, trying not to laugh at the crowds attempts to imitate her and the others, she was just relieved they got rid of those damn microphones; headsets were so much easier when they had to jump and slide around everywhere.

From the corner of her eye she could see Jesy teasing the Irishmen, his face was as red as it was going to get and-wait, that was a lie, it just turned another shade...And Jade and Perrie looked like they were being left out. Jade would never dance on a guy she didn't know, her shyness wouldn't let her, and Perrie was too picky to dance on a random customer. If Perrie had seen Zayn first she would've snatched him up like Leigh-Anne had, Zayn would've been stiff as a board (or stiffer than that when he didn't have any rhythm) considering all of Perrie's advances on him were unwanted.

The song was coming down to an end with them still moving to the sound, Jesy and Leigh-Anne, since they had temporary dance partners, grabbed Zayn and Niall by the collars of their shirts -Jesy, roughly, because the only thing soft about her was her voice, body, and hair and Leigh-Anne very gently, seeing as she probably frightened him before- and sang the last line to them with a smile.

The audience roared in applause and cheers for them, throwing money on the counter and filling their seats back at the bar ready to get some alcohol back into their systems after that show.

Jesy had long let go of Niall, who quipped out something about, "Next time I'll Irish jig with you and we'll see if you can keep up!" to make her laugh, while Leigh-Anne and Zayn were stuck in trance gazing in each others eyes.

His eyes were darker today, more intense, and angry? She hadn't paid much mind to his appearance when he came stumbling through the door, she was happy to see him after last night, but something had ruffled his usually sleek feathers.

"U-um...Leigh-Anne?" he whispered and she finally released his shirt feeling bad about the fresh wrinkles she had put in the fabric from her grip on it. It's not that he didn't like being that close to her and her kissable lips, but he just got her number yesterday and "accidentally" kissing her like they did in cliche movies wasn't his thing.

"What's wrong?" she asked calmly leaning back, taking off her headset and handing it to Perrie who was collecting them, her baby blues were shifting between the pair before she scurried to the back room.

Zayn sighed and ran his tattooed hand through his hair, he didn't want to talk about it.

"I'm okay," he muttered looking around at the other attendees for tonight, they were still buzzing after the girls performance and ordering twice the drinks.

Leigh-Anne nodded mutely and started pouring his usual.

"I'm closing again," she told him offhandedly. "Tulisa's making me."

"Need a ride?" Tonight would be colder than yesterday, and he didn't like the fact that her friend hadn't come to pick her up on time.

"No, I've got a ride...hopefully," she frowned, she should probably text him just to make sure. "Can I have you on standby until he comes?" she joked.

"Of course." As if he would leave without knowing she was alright first.

"Thanks Zayn." She smiled at him and he looked away from her to hide the heat sizzling to his cheeks, good thing he was tan.

_x

"Uh, you were great tonight," Zayn complimented hearing Danny's advice replying in his mind, watching her organize the last of the bottles. "Ahh..I mean, you're great everytime you guys sing and stuff, but like, I think tonight was a really strong performance..."

"Oh...yeah, thanks... Hey," she said, finally looking at him. "I'm sorry about that whole dance thing. I didn't mean to scare you or anything," she apologized.

Zayn laughed to himself and smiled down at the counter.

"Scared the hell outta me," he admitted. "I don't dance, like, ever."

"I thought you danced well tonight," she commented. He moved when she moved and just like that, he was dancing.

"It helps when you have a great dance partner... but please, never again. I hate the attention.." He preferred going unnoticed and after the show he felt plenty of friendly hands making grabs at him and not all of those hands were female.

"I dunno, Zayn," she teased biting the corner of her bottom lip. "I think we got double the tips because you wanted to shake that money maker with me tonight."

Zayn choked on his own spit and coughed erratically, the only "money maker" he had was his hands, it wasn't the lack of posterior he had going on back there, he was positive.

"No, it was definitely all of you," he choked out, ashamed that he was actually choking infront of her. Danny specifically told him not make a fool out of himself whenever he was around her, to "play it cool," but how cool could he be when she's talking about the ass he didn't have and how he shook it?

Leigh-Anne wanted to laugh out loud so badly at the face he was making but instead, placed a bottle of water infront of him since she caused him so much trouble.

"Thanks," he muttered. This night had just taken a nosedive, he thought it was going well until he almost choked to death just now.

"I'm sorry, I have to!" she said bursting into laughter and holding her stomach, the way her mind was imagining Zayn dancing to more provocative songs and shaking his tight ass was too much. The thought of him dancing like Beyoncé or even Ciara had her in stitches.

Had she been anyone else he would've made a comment about them shutting up and shutting up now, but this was his crush and though she was laughing at his pain, the point was that she was laughing. He put that melodic sound in the air and the wide smile on her face and he was very proud of himself...even though he could barely breathe at the moment.

"Is your middle name Beyoncé?" she asked him, still failing to contain the laughter she tried to hold in.

"No..?"

She giggled behind her hand and said, "Well it should be, 'cause I like the way you shake that ass, Zayn!"

He chuckled to himself, what ass??

"Oh, well in that case, yes, yes it is. I'm the Beyoncé of dance in this place," he said sarcastically, opening his arms and gesturing to the bar and all of its emptiness. If his 15 seconds of fame dancing with her could put that kind of smile on her face then maybe, just maybe, he would consider taking up that contemporary hip-hop dance class Danny told him about a few months back when he wouldn't stop rambling about how great of a dancer she was.

Another round of laughter sounded through the bar and she slapped the counter with a heavy open palm multiple times.

"Zayn 'Beyoncé' Malik," she chortled remembering his last name from the text he sent to Perrie yesterday. "Priceless! And look at that pretty face!" she cooed. "Flawless!"

Her delicate hand reached out and grabbed his stubble laced chin and turned his head from side to side admiring the cheekbones she could probably cut diamonds with; Zayn was a second away from cardiac arrest at this point. He was just getting acclimated to being physically close to her and speaking more than a few incredibly short sentences to her. Zayn was not, I repeat, was not, prepared for any physical contact. He wasn't ready!

"This face, it's better than the face of a model! I bet your selfie game is hella strong, isn't it? What I would do to wake up to your selfies everyday!" She laughed again, not knowing that Zayn would send her a selfie every morning...if that's what she wanted, if it would make her smile the way she was right now.

It was no secret to him that he was a good looking guy when he looked at the bone structure in his face, but now, according to Leigh-Anne, he needed to upgrade from "good looking" to "having a face better than a model with a hella strong selfie game" and putting that on his resume and send it.

"Okay, I'm done. I'm done...Ahh, I needed a good laugh. Today was terrible," she informed letting go of his face and going into the back room to get her coat and things. He missed her hand touching him but was relieved, a few breaths more and she would've felt the lava heat of an intense blush under his skin.

"How so?" Zayn wondered, grabbing his half finished bottle of water and remotely starting up his car when she came back out dressed weather appropriate. His heart was still fluttering around in his chest, and he was 1,000% sure there wasn't anything medically wrong with him. Besides his charcoal black lungs and chicken legs, he was as fit as a fiddle.

"Jesy and Jade got into it today," she sighed slipping on her left glove. "I'm happy Jade finally stood up to Jesy, but they argued and cried and we couldn't finish practicing the song I wrote and that's why I'm locking up tonight."

"So Tulisa made you close because of those two? That's not really fair," he said holding outside the entrance door and holding it open so she could lock it.

"It's fair when she's my boss," Leigh-Anne scoffed. "Plus I took the blame anyways.. I was looking forward to doing this song maybe on Monday but..." She sighed again shaking her head. Jesy and Jade were always going to clash since their personalities were polar opposites, she just thought that they would've found some equilibrium with each other by now.

"What's the song about?" he asked nicely. Another thing he liked about her was her songwriting ability, it was the creativity it took to write an amazing and meaningful song. Everyone didn't have skills like that but she did, and she could sing! Singer, songwriter, dancer, he was waiting for her to play an instrument one of these nights.

"Is it like that one song? Uh..."Little Me"? I like that one, yeah...um, really powerful lyrics. I had to text my sisters afterwards and tell them they were beautiful and stuff..." Whaliya texted him back saying that she really needed to hear that after the day she had at school.

"The girls and I were really sad one day and then we wrote that together. Just thinking about everything we could've done when we were younger and what we needed to hear from somebody that cared, y'know?"

Zayn nodded in understanding. Although it seemed like a 'girl' song it applied to guys too, he wished he could talk to his younger self and give him all of the advice he had so he wouldn't have been such a recluse growing up. Tell him to branch out more and not be so timid and afraid of his own shadow.

"But this one faster, and the note Perrie hits is crazy," she answered looking around for Harry's car and checking the time. He wasn't late yet, but he would be in a few minutes.

"Yeah? What's it called? ...Wanna wait in my car until he comes?" he offered seeing her scan the parking lot again.

"Please?" she laughed. "Your seat warmers are like magic!"

When they were in his car and safe from the winter elements she answered his other question.

"I call it "About The Boy" cause I couldn't think of a better title," she confessed sheepishly. She was pressed for time and couldn't think of anything more original.

"And what about him?" He wanted to bat his thick eyelashes at her to make her laugh at his "flirting," as if she'd written the song about him and he was going to tease her about it, but like a coward, he didn't... Danny's advice sucked, how could he flirt with her properly when it made him feel like a try hard fool?

"I'd love to tell you about him, but I don't really know, I'm still trying to figure him out myself." She shrugged, half the lyrics were random things until she wove them together.

"There's just something about that boy," she crooned, smiling because Zayn was smiling, and now they looked like two idiots in a car smiling at each other.

"That's all I get?"

"Yep, until next week...if you can make it."

Yeah, because Zayn couldn't come for every performance and he always tried his hardest to make them. His job would interfer and according to Danny, the next day he would sulk and be unapproachable for hours.

"You could uh...text me the day you guys are gonna do it and I'll show up?" Zayn wanting to slap himself. That came out a lot more desperately than he planned.

He didn't text her yesterday and she hadn't texted him either, he wasn't sure if he was supposed to text her first or wait, or what. Danny said to hell with the three day waiting rule, if he wanted her, he'd go for it. Though the voice inside of his head told him to wait, what if he was coming on too strong and it scared her away? ...Then he had to snort to himself because the thought of him coming on strong to anyone or anything, was completely laughable.

"Oh! I meant to text you, but after my shower I was just exhausted!" she groaned leaning her seat back a little to get comfortable. She really did mean to text him a, 'thanks again for the ride' but the way the water pressure from the shower head relaxed her muscles wouldn't allow it, she put on her pajamas and flopped into her mattress without a second thought.

"I passed right out."

"That's alright," he replied. "Yesterday was pretty busy so...yeah."

"So Zayn," she started, turning on her side, "what do you do? You don't come in wearing a uniform or anything unless you go home and change before coming here..?"

"Um..I uh.." He liked his job, but after previous experiences with telling people what he did and was laughed at, now when asked he would shrug and say, 'A job's a job.' Was it wrong for him to think that Leigh-Anne was different and wouldn't laugh? There isn't anything embarrassing about it when it's your passion but...

"Are you gonna make me guess?" she teased.

"Uh yeah, guess!" That would take a lot of weight off his shoulders. If she guessed it, great, and if not, he could stall for time until her friend came to get her.

"Okay, judging by your Beyoncé moves I'm going to say you're a professional dancer?" she guessed and laughed when he made a face. "Okay, not a dancer."

"Not at all," he confirmed.

"I bet you twerk in the mirror when you're all alone at home though.." she muttered but wanted him to hear her, he did and couldn't argue, he only looked away from her in shame. He had tried it a few times to see what it was all about but never again.

"What about acting? Do you like, do small roles or something?" That face of his could open so many doors without much effort.

"No, I don't act."

"I'm not going to guess you're some kinda Gucci or Armani model, though you should be." She put her chin in the palm of her hand and drummed her fingers fingers along her face. "Are you an artist?"

Zayn's body stiffened in his seat.

"Like, do you sing and have a recording studio in your house too? You always seem so into our songs."

'Oh..that kinda artist,' he thought and relaxed his body once more.

"Well, I don't have a studio, but I sing to myself a lot or like, to my Grandma...But that doesn't really count, does it?" No, Zayn, of course it doesn't, everyone sings to themselves.

"Can you sing?" she asked excitedly. The thought of him being a singer was low on her list of his possible jobs but it was such an appealing occupation for him.

"I guess so.." he whispered. His family would always tell him how great of a singer he was growing up, especially his mother. She always wanted to sign him up for singing competitions but he would always clam up and psych himself out before the audition.

Leigh-Anne clapped her hands together excitedly with a smile. "Will you sing for me? Please? Please??" she begged.

"I uh.." What if she didn't like it? What if he wasn't as good of a singer his family hyped him up to be?

A car pulled into the parking lot honking it's horn and the pair looked for it.

"Damn, that's him," she pouted pulling out her phone and looking at the text Harry had just sent her. "Maybe you can sing for me next time?" she asked pocketing her phone and glancing at the man beside her, Zayn was still looking out the window and into Harry's car.

"Yeah, maybe. Um..I know it's none of my business but," he squinted his eyes to see the figure better, "who's that girl inside the car with him?"

"Wait, there is..?" She leaning to the side to look passed Zayn to see a blonde in the passenger seat and with what appeared to be, her hands all over Harry. "That fucker!" she hissed.

"Are you uh..gonna be okay?" He had never really seen her angry before, perhaps he should've kept quiet and not have mentioned the other woman.

"I'll be fine," she huffed, ready to exit his car, stomp over to Harry's, possibly slap the crap out of him and yell at him about much of a dick he was to show up with the same chick he was probably with last night...unless it was someone else.

"Do you want me to walk you over there?" he offered knowing that even if she said no, he would still do it.

"Y'know what? That's a great idea!" she replied, opening her door and walking around the back off the car, Zayn getting out right after and walking by her side.

He had expected her to start saying her goodbyes and how she'll see him when she saw him, he hadn't expected her to loop her arm with his a start humming a lilt melody... She seriously had to be livid.

Harry rolled down his window, peered at Zayn and unlocked the doors for Leigh-Anne to get inside the vehicle.

"Nice of you to walk her over," Harry said looking the older guy up and down. "Very gentlemanly of you."

Had Zayn been the type, he would've said something rude about him not coming to pick her up on time and leaving her damn near stranded and close to catching pneumonia or frost bite...but he wasn't the type.

"Harry, this is Zayn. Zayn, Harry," she introduced pulling Zayn's arm closer to her body and kissing him on his scuffy cheek.

That's when it clicked for the ravenette, that Leigh-Anne wanted to use him to get her friend as upset as she had been when she sat in his car seething for those long seconds. Well that ruined their first "intimate" moment...and was it bad that he didn't mind being used?

Zayn gave Harry an upward nod and Harry nodded back before the forgotten blonde groaned in annoyance behind him.

"Hey, I'm Miley!" she yelled, introducing herself in a southern accent and leaning over to see Leigh-Anne and Zayn since Harry hadn't bothered introducing her.

Zayn nodded again to her, Leigh-Anne ignored her completely and Harry rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, and this is Miley... So are you getting in or not?" he asked gruffly, unlocking the doors again so Leigh-Anne would get the point.

'How dare he make me sit the the backseat when he's got a girl in the car!' she screamed in her head.

"Uh..no. Zayn's gonna take me home, right Zayn?" she asked slipping her gloved hand into his gloveless hand and patting his chest with the other.

"Yeah, I'll make sure she gets home safely," he responded playing along. His eyes looked over Harry and then he remembered something. "Uh, you're a friend of Andy's right? I think we met once at a get together of his."

"Did we?" Harry asked uninterested, his own thoughts swirling around in his head about her attempt to make him jealous with this nobody by her side.

"Yeah.." Zayn replied slowly sensing that Harry obviously wasn't in the mood to converse. "I'll see you whenever," he said to Harry and gave another nod over to Miley who smiled back.

"Bye," Leigh-Anne chirped and walked with Zayn back to his car. Harry hadn't bothered to say goodbye or wait, he turned his car around and zoomed out of the parking lot and into the Saturday night traffic.

Once they were seated Leigh-Anne sighed.

"Zayn, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have used you to make him upset. I was just angry-"

"It's okay," he replied. He still was able to hold her hand for the first time and she kissed his cheek, the spot her lips made contact with was still tingling.

"-and it didn't mean anything," she finished and that was the end if the tingling sensation.

...Well Zayn could've gone without hearing that, obviously it didn't mean anything to her but verbalizing it sent a torpedo of pain into his once fluttering chest.

"Yeah...it didn't mean anything," he agreed and bit his tongue because that was a lie. It might not have meant anything to her, but for a split second it meant everything to him... He wasn't so sure about liking being used by her anymore.

"So...your place?"

_x

"You've got some fuckin nerve showing up with that bitch," Leigh-Anne spat at Harry when she opened the door and he walked into her house.

"Whatever. You said to pick you up and that's what I was doing. I had to drop her off anyways," he responded lazily.

Her hair was wet from her shower and wrapped in a towel she took it off and shook out her hair and watched in amazement in the mirror as it sat in a mess without a care. If she had the time in the morning she would straighten it, but she highly doubted that possibility and started applying her ritual of moisturizers and conditioners and twisting it so it would curl the way she wanted.

"You've got some nerve walking over with that shitdick on your arm like I'm supposed to give a fuck," he shot back. "Like I'm supposed to be jealous over a guy like him."

"Don't call him that, his name is Zayn and he's a really nice guy," she defended. She actually remembered to text him this time. "And that's not what I was doing."

Yes it was.

"He's the one who dropped me off yesterday, I just thought you'd want to atleast meet the "random guy" that made sure I had a ride home, unlike yourself!"

"Bullshit," Harry called eyeing her as she put on a headscarf that they both knew wouldn't last the night. "You kissed him on the cheek just to piss me off, I know it and you know it. Too bad it didn't work because I. Don't. Care." He shrugged out of his shirt and dropped it on the floor.

"That wasn't for you, it was for him! Like I said, he's a nice guy, and atleast I know he won't pick a girl named "Miley" over me," she sneered over her shoulder.

"Are you still on that?!" Harry sighed running a hand down his face. It was always the same thing with her! "I said she was nobody!"

"Riiight," she said in disbelief. "And that's why you smell like her perfume, the same one from yesterday and have her lipstick smeared all over you neck. Oh! And that's the same shade from yesterday too! How peculiar!"

She stripped off the towel from her body, standing nakedly in her room searching for her pajamas when Harry grabbed her gently and pushed her against her bedroom door roughly. His exposed upper torso was pressed to her completely bare body and he leaned in close to her ear.

"You know what Leigh-Anne? I'm getting really sick of this fuckin attitude of yours. I don't know if it's your period or what, but you've been acting kinda crazy lately and it's irking the hell outta me. So I'm going to take a shower, and when I get out I'm gonna give you exactly what you've been wanting and we'll see if you calm the fuck down. Okay?" he asked harshly and took a step back to look at her.

"I don't want that!" she hissed and Harry chuckled darkly and smirked down at her in a condescending way.

"Yes, you do. You always get pissy when you haven't been fucked in awhile, and I'm positive you aren't fucking that loser. But don't you worry." He stepped closer to her and twisted her nipple between his slender fingers to make her squeak, his knee had taken to grinding into her womanhood slowly. "I'm gonna fuck you thoroughly and you'll be all better."

"Like hell you will," she said and shoved a him away. She didn't like that his knee -what the hell, his knee!- was causing her any sort of pleasure. She wasn't that needy or desperate for that type of attention. "I don't want the herpes you probably caught this week from fucking around."

He chuckled again and unbuttoned his black jeans and pulled them, along with his boxers, off.

"You say that now, but I know when I'm finished with my shower you'll be gagging for it."

She snorted and moved to put on her large t-shirt that she normally slept in and her boy shorts, funny because it was actually one of Harry's old shirts. "That's what you think, Harry."

He tapped the tip of his nose knowingly. "It's what I know."

Leigh-Anne rolled her eyes and laid down on her bed, eyes staring blankly at her plan ceiling. "Do tell how you know, Mr. Know-it-all?"

"Because that's what your body is telling me." He sauntered over to her bed and hovered over her and quickly grabbing both of her wrists in one of his hands and holding them above her head before she could even think about what he was doing. His other large hand nimbly slipping into her shorts as she squirmed in his hold and heading directly to her honey pot to feel around her flower before he brought it up and showed Leigh-Anne what he found. He spread his fingers so she could see the wetness he had gathered from her core and kept that smirk super glued on his face. She could verbally deny it all she wanted, but her body would always tell him what she really wanted...needed.

"I sure this isn't from that loser from earlier." He took his soiled hand and wiped it on the bottom of her shirt and released her wrists. "But don't worry, I'll be quick so just play with yourself until I come out."

Harry kissed her lips quickly, trying to worm his tongue into her mouth or to get her to kiss back and it wasn't working. She didn't want to play right now but he knew she'd be game in ten minutes.

"You're a cocky shit, you know that, right?" she asked when he stopped kissing her. She tried closing her legs together and trying to forget the way he touched her. He was right, it had been awhile and him kissing her and touching her wasn't helping her resist him...though she wasn't trying too hard.

"It wouldn't be so bad if you didn't always tell me how amazing I am afterwards. I get my inflated ego from you!" He laughed palming his half hard cock, rubbing it fondly before thrusting into her soft thigh. "And as you know, I've got a big ego."

Harry winked at her and departed to the bathroom, Leigh-Anne shook her head and wished she'd never teased Zayn about anything Beyonce related. His dance moves, his (barely there) ass, his face being flawless...though that was a genuine compliment.

Karma was a bitch.


	3. 3

"Ni...Niall, no, I can't! Stop!"

"C'mon Jesy, just one more, I know you can handle it! If you can't walk after, I'll carry you," he promised laughing at her face.

"I can't, I've got to meet the girls at the bar. You're gonna make me late!" she whined trying to roll out of her bed.

She hadn't planned on taking Niall home again that night, especially when she had to get up early the next morning, but she did and like before, they had fun. Lots and lots of fun all over her house and even on the kitchen floor. When and how they made it to her bedroom she wasn't quite sure, but she couldn't care less when she woke up with him snuggled into her side and talking (adorably) in his sleep. It had been forever since she woke up with someone in bed next to her, that one creep didn't count, but Niall was someone she didn't really mind being around when he was so entertaining and it didn't bother her...much. Having Niall there when she woke up was...pleasant...

She had checked under the covers to see that both of them were as naked as they wanted to be, she looked at his package and couldn't help but laugh at how he joked about it and literally slapped it around. He was so funny and casual about it, making sure she enjoyed herself and the passion behind every thrust? He knew exactly what spot to hit too? (Whoo!)The thought about cuffing him to the bed and never letting him go free had passed her mind a few times...

"Jesy, please? It'll hurt me feelins if you can't! Just one more and we can go." He smiled thinking that all of this couldn't have gone better.

"Fuck!" she swore. "Okay, fine! Gimme that!" she demanded snatching the fork from his hand and eating the pile of scrambled eggs Niall had made.

"Yes!" Niall shouted as a personal victory.

He cooked the both of them breakfast in bed even though she told him it wasn't necessary, but he did and he showed off. He knew she would love it, he really wanted to feed her though Jesy definitely wouldn't let him. So for the last five minutes he was trying to get her to eat a different set of scrambled eggs with a new flavor, but she complained about being full and bloating later on.

(If you thought they were talking about another round of hot sex, ya nahstee...They did that when Niall woke up.)

"Whaddya think?" he asked when she finished chewing and swallowed. Jesy daintily wiped her mouth with a napkin Niall had fetched and sighed to herself, she was going to regret eating so much but a begging Niall was hard to say "no" to; she learned that last night.

"Is there a word for awesome in Irish?" she asked already feeling herself bloating, probably from all of the bacon...or maybe the French toast..

Niall was beaming, his chest swelling with pride.

"Well, you could say it was 'ace.'" He picked up their empty plates and walked them back into the kitchen and putting them in the sink.

"Well, it was ace. All of it," she complimented when he came back. Jesy peered at her phone when Perrie texted her saying she was on her way to the bar in a few and to hurry the fuck up. "And now I have 45 minutes until I'm supposed to be at the bar, I'm tired from eating so much and I don't think I'll make it to the shower."

Niall nodded, bent over and put one arm under her knees and the other behind her back. "It helps when you hold onto me," he instructed.

She looped her arms around his neck and, what she thought was on the count of three, Niall hoisted her up from the bed.

"What are you doing?" she asked feeling as light as a feather in his arms, knowing that wasn't really the case, but he didn't seem phased by her weight.

"Promised I'd carry you, didn't I?" he asked rhetorically and walking towards her shower.

_x

"Well don't you look like a ball of sunshine!" Perrie shouted when Leigh-Anne walked through the door.

"Perrie, please.." she groaned escaping into the back room to take off her coat, hat, gloves and scarf.

"Someone's cranky," the blonde whispered to Jade who nodded.

"What's wrong, Leigh? You look exhausted.." the petite brunette wondered when she came back, concerned for the growing bags under her friends eyes.

"Nothing, I'm just really tired... Long night." Leigh-Anne yawned and stretched, her back cracking deliciously and feeling like a full body orgasm.

"Long dick, too?" Jesy added chortling when Jade's mouth fell open. "It had you like," Jesy put her hands in her hair and started to violently shake her legs, "'Yes! Yes! Ahh! More!' Like an A-list pornstar!"

"Not now, Jesy," she chided... though it was true.

"So I'm right! What's he like? Zayn right? Whatever. He looks like the lover boy type, but judging by the way you're walking I could be wrong.." Jesy teased wiggling her eyebrows and high-fiving a cackling Perrie.

"Zayn did that!" Jesy went on.

"No, no, it's not...Nevermind," she said dismissively. If she breathed a word about her and Harry they'd go on and on about the two of them and how they weren't together but subconsciously they were. A load of psychobabble they honestly knew nothing about but swore they all had Ph. D's in.

"Can we just do the song before Tulisa comes in and attempts to fire me?" Leigh-Anne asked grabbing the lyric paper Jade was giving to her and scanning over the words again.

"If she fires you we'll all quit, right?" Jade asked looking at the others, Perrie nodded while Jesy stayed silent.

"What?" Jesy snapped when Perrie gave her a pointed look. "I actually need this damn job!"

Leigh-Anne smiled and chuckled because that was so Jesy. Surely she wouldn't admit it aloud, but she would quit too, she had to be the tough one and pretend like she wasn't fond of all of them.

"Well, if I get fired I guess I can always be a stripper," Leigh-Anne muttered jokingly. "Just workin' the pole every night."

"You've got the ass for it," Perrie stated with a nod.

"And you can really dance too!" Jade added enthusiastically.

"You're flexible enough, I think it would workout pretty well." Jesy shrugged. "You'd probably make more money stripping than working here anyways."

"Thanks guys... I think?" she replied unsurely. They were supposed to tell her she was above stripping and that another bar would hire her on the spot, not tell her why she filled the requirements for being an exotic dancer.

After three run-throughs of the song without any mistakes, getting Perrie's bridge to be perfect or anyone accusing anyone else about being flat..or sharp, they were waiting for Tulisa to show up so they could show her what they managed to accomplish.

"How is it fair that we were here 'bright and early' like she said while she still isn't here?" Jesy asked angrily. "I have shit to do and waiting on her to get here so we can sing one damn song and leave before coming back tonight, isn't one of them!"

"Temper, temper!" Perrie clicked her tongue and leaned back when Jesy made a lunge for her hair; she only missed by and inch. "It's Sunday, you didn't have anything to do so hush."

"Who says I wasn't gonna go to church today?" Jesy asked and everyone including herself, exploded in laughter after a brief pause.

"I think you'd spontaneously combust if you stepped on any sacred ground, Jesy," Jade giggled.

Jesy shrugged. "That's probably true."

"So...about Zayn?" Perrie asked playfully tugging on one of Leigh-Anne's perfect curls and tenderly tucking it behind her ear, for some reason she was always so fascinated by Leigh-Anne's hair.

"What about him?" she asked back, leaning away from the blonde's touch.

"You definitely let him hit that and you don't wanna admit it! I bet he didn't know what to do with all dat ass!" Jesy, crude as ever, said while pretending to spank an imaginary backside and thrusting her hips.

"Why is everything about my butt today?" Leigh-Anne asked herself quietly.

Harry had actually bitten her rear when he got out the shower. She was almost asleep when his vampiric canines sunk into her skin, naturally she screamed, though with her tired throat it resonated off her bedroom walls as a moan.

"About time!" Jesy whooped.

"When are you gonna see him? Is he coming tonight?" Perrie pried.

"Forget that, how big is his dick?" Jesy wondered, she wanted all of the details. He was so mysterious, he had never spoken a word to her personally and she was overly curious. "Nine inches or more? It's always the quiet ones, y'know!"

"Jesy!" Jade gasped torn between wanted to know the answer to that herself and covering her ears.

"Alright, lemme just stop all of you right there," Leigh-Anne said holding up her hand with a straight face. "Zayn didn't hit anything, and before you even say anything, shut the hell up, Jesy. Yes Perrie, go ahead and try to sleep with him but I doubt it'll work because he doesn't even want your number. I tried to give it to him and he really didn't want it... Don't make that face at me! He said it, not me!"

"Then who's got you walking like you sat on that thang and never got up?"

"Nobody," Leigh-Anne sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Oh.." Jesy sighed disappointed. "Well dang, what vibrator/dildo do you have so I can add it to my arsenal? My black one is getting so old.."

"Oh my God.." Jade gasped.

"Plus, having 'Bob' for so long gets boring."

"Who's Bob?"

"A Battery operated boyfriend, get up to speed, Jade, damn."

Perrie took in Leigh-Anne's frown lines and shook her head. "It was Harry," the blonde concluded.

"Harry?" Jade asked. "You still...that with Harry?"

"The word is 'fuck' and of course she does, Jade. That way she doesn't have to go out and find somebody else to give it to her... Damn, I was hoping to hear Zayn had a freaky side, now I'm bored.." Jesy had gotten tired of hearing about Harry and Leigh-Anne's romping whenever she indulged them with the stories. At this point the eldest figured they should get married and start working on having children, they argued like an old married couple all the time anyways.

"You should've said you busted it wide open for Zayn, that would've been more exciting," Jesy added.

"And that would've been a lie...What about you and Niall?" Leigh-Anne asked hoping they'd just leave her alone, it was still too early.

"Yeah, what about you and that wannabe blonde?" Perrie, flipping her hair, questioned. "He needs to get his roots touched up again."

"Niall is good."

"Good doesn't get him two nights in a row.." Perrie mumbled.

"He can pick me up.."

All three girls 'oohed' together and nodded.

"Did he pick you up and throw you over his shoulder cavemen style?" Perrie joked. "Cause he looks like he would do something like that."

Jesy slapped the back of Perrie's head and snorted, only she would say something so stupid.

"What? He does!" she yelled cradling her sore spot. "You let him stick his Irish sausage in your Easy Bake oven twice already!"

Jesy's eye twitched. She wasn't sure if Perrie calling her cooder an "Easy Bake oven" was her way of calling her a whore or if she was trying to be funny.

"Yeah, okay Double-Dutch Bus, when was the last time you had a passenger? I'm sure there's cobwebs down there," Jesy sneered and sucked her teeth.

"Well," Perrie said thoughtfully. "I saw Cher like, a month ago, but I never called her back, nice girl. Lately I've just been looking for someone like..."

The ocean colored eyes in her head connected with Leigh-Anne's.

"Whoa, no." She held up her hands and shook her head.

"Don't flatter yourself, Leigh, you're not the type I go for."

"..Well now I'm just offended.."

"But a certain tall, dark and handsome regular of yours is.."

"Perrie, just go for it. You don't need my permission to pursue him," Leigh-Anne huffed. "I'm not his keeper."

"Zayn seems really into you though..." Jesy said quietly. "Like, we all can see it. He might not know he's doing it, but sometimes he gets this dopey look on his face when he watches you. Take him for a spin...and if that doesn't work out, atleast fuck the guy a few times and tell us about it! I'm sticking to him being a solid nine inches."

"I'm ignoring you now, Jesy... But Zayn's nice, y'know?" Leigh-Anne asked before rubbing her arm. "And I'd rather not bring him into this mess that's my life and end up hurting him or something. Plus there's Harry and he'll never let me-"

"He won't 'let' you?" Jesy asked incredulously. "Harry doesn't own you. You can do whatever the hell you want, and if you want to date Zayn than by all means, date him."

Jesy groaned, she was getting frustrated with their unsteady non-relationship. "I can't believe you just said that..! Even though I feel like the two of you were meant to be, everytime you say something like that it makes me want to break that curly haired bastards nose again."

It was an accident, really...sorta.

Leigh-Anne had been hired after Jesy so she and Jesy were the only bartenders at the time. One night before Leigh-Anne could properly introduce Jesy to Harry he had grabbed a handful of her chest -being a drunk and frisky fucker that night- and Jesy's fist connected with his nose the second he let her breast go. Jesy didn't play that, "I'm drunk so that means I can get any with anything," crap and laughed when Leigh-Anne said that she knew him, was sorta-kinda seeing him, and "Oh shit, he's bleeding!" Jesy only continued to laugh when Leigh-Anne dragged him into the back room and everytime she saw Harry she'd purposely strike up a conversation with anyone about noses.

"He still hasn't forgiven you for that..."

"Fuck if I care!" Jesy checked the time again and stood up, yawned and stretched. "Alright, I'm out this bitch. Tell Tulisa I left, I had shit to do."

"Sit down, Jessica." Perrie grabbed her sleeve and pulled her back down.

"No! I'm tired, a little sore and Niall's got me bloated, I want to sleep!" Jesy yelled.

"Bloated? So you've been eating that Irish sausage!" Perrie exclaimed happily.

"...Really living up to that reputation of a dumb blonde aren't ya, Perrie? He cooks, like, he's a chef."

"Like, a chef chef? Or like, a really good cook?"

"A chef chef, he told me this morning, he's got his own restaurant and everything." Jesy almost felt like she was bragging, though Niall was probably the most successful guy she'd been with in God knows. "He says it's doing well."

"Wait, wait...he spent the night? Like, you woke up to breakfast in bed?" Jesy nodded at Perrie.

"That's really uh...not like you, Jes.." Leigh-Anne added and the eldest sighed shaking her head and carding her long hair. "Letting him stay and letting him cook you breakfast in the morning.."

"I know, I know. Tell me about it...but guys..Niall's.." Jesy flapped her hands around wildly. "Like, he's sweet, and the guy really knows how to please but... Like, fucking me like a maniac, him being able to pick me up and carry me to the shower, and cooking me breakfast is-it's weird!"

Perrie and Leigh-Anne cooed simultaneously

"Sounds like someone's gotta crush. Doesn't it, Jade?" a grinning Perrie asked.

"Jade." Leigh-Anne softly nudged her. "You've been really quiet over there for awhile, are you okay? You missed the coo."

She snapped out of whatever trance she'd been in and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, I was just thinking, that's all. But uh, yeah, Jesy likes Niall, definitely. She hardly pays that much attention to her other customers like she does Niall."

"I liked it better when you weren't talking," Jesy declared half-heartedly and crossing her arms, Jade only stuck her tongue out at her.

"You should give Niall a chance, Jes, he could be good for you." Leigh-Anne pulled out her phone when it vibrated, surprisingly, it was a text from Zayn.

'Hey ;)' it read. She blinked and reread the short message over.

'A wink...that's new..' she thought replying.

"I've got it," Jesy announced snapping her fingers. "I'll give Niall a chance if Leigh gives Zayn a chance and if it doesn't work, atleast we'll still have fuck buddies. Sound good?"

"Yes!" Jade clapped excitedly.

"No," Perrie said pouting.

"...What?" Leigh-Anne asked looking up from Zayn's new message, obviously he was in a flirting mood today. She didn't know if she should be scared or just a little bit turned on by this new side of him.

"You should take a shot of Whiskey and I'll keep up with my Irish créme pies," Jesy chuckled. She'd still probably see Niall anyways but linking up her friend with someone that wasn't a manipulative jerk seemed like the right thing to do.

"Oh..." she replied and dove back into texting Zayn.

"And if it works out between them, what am I supposed to do?" Perrie snapped, her nostrils flaring like how her attitude was starting to.

Jesy narrowed her eyes at the blonde who looked ready to throw a temper tantrum.

"You're gonna sit there and fucking be happy for them like the rest of us," she answered through clenched teeth.

"But she doesn't even want him and I do! How is that fair?!"

"It's fair because he doesn't fucking want YOU and he wants HER!" Jesy yelled back.

"But why-"

"I'm gonna slap those pretty eyes out of your head if you ask why he would want someone like Leigh. Just because you have blonde hair and fucking blue eyes doesn't make you entitled to everything you want, Perrie! Maybe you're not his type or maybe he thinks you're annoying, it doesn't matter! What matters is that he likes her, not you, and you need to fucking deal with it! You just wanna fuck him anyways, you don't care about anything else."

"Well isn't that the pot calling the kettle black," Perrie sassed rolling her eyes. "That's all you want to do is fuck, hence why you're really going to keep Niall around regardless."

"But I'd never want to take the guy my friend could possibly be happy with away from her just because I wanted to fuck him! That's the difference between you and me, Perrie. You'd still chase after Zayn anyways, atleast I know when to back off! You can be such a selfish bitch sometimes! When was the last time Leigh actually did something for herself without one of us interfering or somehow having her give up whatever it was because she wanted us to be happy? Just let her fucking have this!"

Perrie clicked her tongue while checking her nails.

"Ya done?"

"You fuc-"

"Guys, guys!" Leigh-Anne yelled getting their attention and pulling on Jesy's arm. "It's okay, Perrie can have hi-"

"No!" Jesy screamed. "Fuck! This is like yesterday all over again except with this bitch," she pointed at Perrie, "instead of that one!" she pointed at Jade.

Jade sniffled and Jesy rolled her eyes and quickly apologized.

"And the only reason this bitch," Jesy pointed at Perrie again, "acts like a spoiled fucking brat is because you're always giving her what she wants. As soon as she opens her mouth to say 'I want' you're so quick to give it to her!"

Leigh-Anne had enough and screamed loudly in frustration and stood up.

"You wanna know why?! That's because I'm always trying to avoid this!" She angrily waved her arms. "I do it so none of this will happen! I defend Jade when you're being hard on her so she doesn't cry and completely shut all of us out. I give Perrie what she fucking wants so the two of you aren't at each others throats for days and have me worried that one of you might actually hurt the other. I actually listen to your graphic descriptions of your sex life because I know Perrie's only half interested in what you have to say, Jade faints during foreplay, and you telling us means you trust us that much and you don't trust anyone with anything."

She screamed again and stormed into the back room to get her stuff.

"I do it because I care about all of you! But I'm so fucking sick and tired of listening to all of you argue," she looked over to Perrie and the blonde looked down at her shoes. "Cry." Her eyes caught Jade's and she wiped her eyes and sniffled. "Or just say sh!t you just shouldn't say out loud." Next was Jesy who sat stoically.

They'd never seen Leigh-Anne blow up like this before...or ever, really.

"So forget this, the three of you can figure it the fuck out without me!"

She stormed out of the bar, angrily closing the door behind her and into the snow headed for the nearest corner to hail a cab. If they thought she liked giving up her happiness for them, they were wrong, things between the four of them just seemed to work better when one of them -meaning her- missed out.

"Maybe I'll get lucky and Tulisa will fire me."

_x

"Why are you still here?" she asked unwrapping her scarf from around her neck and hanging it up on the back of her door. He was sitting on her sofa watching TV and eating one of her bananas, she almost said something about just buying those and asking him why he never bought his own food and always felt the need to eat hers.

"What, now I can't be here?"

"Harry, I'm really not in the mood. Either leave, or shut up, I'm going to bed," she announced heading towards her room. Listening to Jesy and Perrie having a shouting match with each other, then jumping in it herself, gave her a headache.

"What's wrong?" he asked finishing the rest in two quick bites and throwing the peel out.

"I don't want to talk about it, I want to sleep," she groaned.

Harry quietly followed her to her room and caught her hand before she laid down and pulled her into a warm embrace.

"What's wrong?" he repeated and she hid her face in his t-shirt and sniffled.

She couldn't be strong for everyone though she tried to be, and during the times she felt weak, who would be strong for her? She couldn't make Jade woman up and stop crying after every insult thrown her way, she couldn't make Jesy tone it down and love herself unconditionally, and she couldn't make Perrie stop being a selfish brat...and that's what she cried into Harry's chest. He rubbed her back and gently moved the both of them to her bed so he could still hold her.

And she cried.

And cried.

And cried until she fell asleep.

Harry wasn't expecting her to come home for another hour or two, he honestly didn't plan on still being there when she came back. He was actually waiting on a phone call from Miley so they could meet up at her house again. Having Leigh-Anne cry into his chest about how frustrated she was with the girls at her job made him angry, he didn't like any of them...except Jade. He liked Jade. She was quiet and usually minded her own business, she never gave him trouble when he randomly showed up to have a few drinks or just to harrass Leigh-Anne. Jesy always had something smart to say after she had broken his nose and Perrie talked entirely too much, he wasn't sure what exactly she's be talking about, but he knew that her lips were moving and words were coming out of her mouth.

When Miley finally called he told her he couldn't make it and made up a lie about his mom being sick and that he was at her house taking care of her, of course she bought it and he sighed when he hung up. Miley wasn't the brightest, but she had her moments, and she was fun to hang out with; he'd stop by later.

Watching her sleep was boring, he wasn't tired and couldn't ship off to dreamland with her and everytime he even thought of letting her go and leaving, she would whimper and hold him tighter. Though Leigh-Anne's constantly buzzing phone that gave him the slightest bit of entertainment and that sparked some curiosity. He assumed it was the girls blowing up her phone considering how angry she was with them and the fact that she'd taken a cab to get home. He wished she would've called him for a ride, he dropped her off this morning and he wasn't doing anything but sitting around eating her food and watching music videos. After another two texts messages he picked up her phone -he had taken it from her when she finally went to sleep- and scrolled through her texts.

He was right about the girls blowing up her phone, but there were four other unread messages from someone named 'Whiskey' with beer emojis next to their name. Harry couldn't recall anyone with that nickname, and he knew everyone Leigh-Anne knew and nothing was ringing any bells. So being the nosy and secretly insecure guy that he was, he opened the messages and read them.

Then he wished he hadn't done that.

Clearly this 'Whiskey' was flirting with her, she was flirting back, and the more he read the more heart broken he felt... Until he scrolled down to the last round of texts she received. One of them was a selfie and it said, 'At work and this is my bored face' and he recognized him as the sh!tdick from yesterday that she tried to make him jealous with. He wanted to rudely shake her awake and ask her what the hell she doing texting that dickwad and flirting with him.

She stirred in his arms as if she could hear his thoughts and was ready to argue and he kissed her neck. Of course he was jealous, any remotely attractive guy she was around made him jealous. It didn't help that he was a jerk most of the time either, he was waiting for the day when she got fed up with him and never spoke to him again. It could happen any day now...but he'd been saying this for years and nothing has changed.

"I love you, Leigh," he murmured into her skin. He did, and he always would.

She murmured something back and he knew she was saying she loved him too.

He continued peppering kisses on her neck and wished she would wake up so he could show her how much he loved her like he did last night. Though she would probably deny it, he could tell that he gave her another few orgasms to add to her list of 'best orgasms ever.'

"Don't leave me," he whispered holding her tighter.

"'m not...'m shleep."

_x

Harry wasn't there when she woke up and Leigh-Anne snorted to herself for thinking that he actually would be.

'Probably going to fuck that Miley broad..' Though she couldn't say that the girl wasn't pretty. 'Atleast he had some taste this time..'

After checking her phone and not replying to any of the unread texts and missed calls she wasn't sure what to do with her time. She worked seven days a week and when she wasn't working she was doing work for work; writing new songs and finding instrumentals for them wasn't as easy as she tried to make it seem. She wouldn't be able to sleep through the night now that she'd thrown some of her sleeping schedule off with her surprising four hour nap, and it was only five in the evening. She needed to find a new circle of friends, preferably friends that didn't argue or were bartenders, that way she could have some sort of social life outside of Little Mix.

As she laid in her bedroom unfocused on the scary movie marathon she decided to have just to pass the time, it hit her how time consuming working there really was. She danced, sang and wrote songs that their intoxicated audience loved, she could be making her own CD and sending it to radio stations or something and if someone there liked her enough maybe they'd pass her work along to some producers. But no. She was working as a bartender with three other girls who were definitely great people and also amazing vocalists but who's personalities clashed almost every other day.

"I'm going nowhere with this," she mumbled.

Feeling like the effort she put into this wasn't worth it and to make it worse, the only reason she had the job was because Tulisa was friend's with her sister. (Strangely enough, Tulisa hadn't called to tell her of her dismissal yet.) Perrie's range was unbelievable, Jesy's vibrato was off the charts and Jade had some strong lungs to be such a tiny person. She and Jade's voices were really similar in tone, but they were just a bit different, just a smidgen of their own signature, and that's why their harmonies were so tight. But Jade was extraordinary all by herself though, her voice was powerful and smooth, they didn't need her. Leigh-Anne remembered the day they met at the bar during their 'interviews' and when Jade opened her mouth to sing, she was completely blown away. How could someone so...small, have such a big voice? That was the first time she had ever felt inadequate about her vocal talent, listening to the others sing and just slay their songs, she almost chickened out and left, but her sister assured her it would be fine before her interview and that, 'There's nothing to it but to do it.'

And she did it.

She got the job!

...and so did Jade, Jesy, and Perrie.

Tulisa thought they'd be great together, it wasn't in her plans, but she thought they'd work great together. It was the four of them begging her to let them do full performances for the customers that came, it was supposed to be a low key music spot, it wasn't supposed to get this big...Though no one had any issues with that.

"Maybe she didn't show up.."

She picked out a menu from some random restaurant that delivered and ordered from there, ate, and laid down again. There was Jade dressed in all white as an angel with her cute halo, over her left shoulder telling her to get dressed, go to work and try to smooth everything over with the girls because they loved her and missed her. Then there was Jesy on her right shoulder dressed in a hot devil red leather outfit telling her not to, just to say 'f_ck it' and stay home...but if she really wanted to, just for the devilment of it, she could show up and not work. Just watch how they worked without her.

Devil Jesy was definitely winning her over.

"Maybe I should go..."

She checked her phone for the time and her eyes widened. Doing nothing made time fly, and she was still pretty tired from all of the nothing she had been doing; she was on her third scary movie.

"Or maybe not... Not," she said finally. She was going to stay home and enjoy her 'day off,' she never got any down time to simply relax.

When her phone started ringing she jumped and her heart skipped a beat thinking it was Tulisa ready to give her those walking papers she was so desperately asking for since she wasn't there when she did finally show up.

Nope. It was Zayn. Why?

"Um...Hello?" she answered unsurely. She and Zayn weren't on that level where he could just randomly call her.

"Uh hey," he replied.

Zayn had another...interesting day at work. It was a slow day and Danny had taken his phone and started texting Leigh-Anne saying, 'he needed to make the first move,' and started flirting with her. Zayn felt humiliated since he couldn't seem to get his phone back from his treacherous friend and even more so because she was responding to Danny's flirting with her own....and it didn't stop until she suddenly stopped replying.

He didn't know where the teaspoon of courage came from that made him show up at the bar to talk to her about it, but that courage went out the window when she wasn't there and her friends weren't their usual selves. Jesy and Perrie were having a silent glaring contest while Jade did her best to service the customers in her area as well as Leigh-Anne's. He noticed that when her other regulars caught on to the fact that Leigh-Anne wasn't there and wouldn't be coming in, that they just left. After 30 minutes of sitting there himself, he was tempted to ask Jade where she was and Jesy told him,

"She's not here, Loverboy, and I doubt she'll be coming tonight," with a sharp look in Perrie's direction.

That seemed to strike a nerve with Perrie who made him a drink he didn't ask for and angrily thrusted it his way, he took a few sips of it to be polite but if Leigh-Anne didn't make it he really didn't want it.. After another awkward ten minutes of witnessing Jade flurry between so many customers without help from Jesy or Perrie he made his departure, but not without somehow promising Jade he would check on Leigh-Anne and make sure she was alright.

"So um," he said nervously. "I went to the bar and you weren't there...Are you feeling okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine," she answered. "I just sorta-kinda...quit? Yeah, sorta. I don't know," she huffed pulling at her hair. She didn't want to quit, she just didn't want to deal with their shit anymore.

"Oh...But you are alright? I promised Jade I'd check up on you.." Though he was going to anyways. "The others were acting weird, I was waiting for Jesy to smash a bottle across Perrie's face or something..."

The tension in the air between those two was so thick you could cut it with a chainsaw and he was being served huge helpings and choking on it.

"Yeah, I'm okay, and they're just, ugh!" She groaned. "Jesy and Perrie started arguing today and I just like, snapped, I couldn't do it. I'm sick of being the peacemaker with all of them, it's so exhausting! We're all adults and sometimes I feel like I'm working with bickering children instead. So after I yelled at all of them about it I stormed out the bar and came home; I've been home all day since."

That explained a lot. Like why Perrie seemed to get really pissed when Jesy called him "Loverboy" and said Leigh-Anne wouldn't be in.

"Jesy and Perrie do seem to argue a lot," Zayn said quietly. Jesy might go overboard harassing Jade but her and Perrie always had a slick comment to make about the other. "But it never turns into anything more than that. It's like a quick spat and then it's over.."

"Well it wasn't like that today," Leigh-Anne snorted. "I think Jesy's been wanting to tear into Perrie for awhile now, and like, the argument was so stupid!"

"...Am I allowed to ask what it was about or should I just stay out of it?"

Leigh-Anne chuckled bitterly and got up from her bed and went into the living room for a moment, then into her kitchen. "I'm not sure how you can stay out of it when it's about you."

"Me?" he squeaked out and felt embarrassed for doing so. The last time he checked he was out of the squeaking phase of his shyness. "B-but I-I haven't- I didn't m-mean to.."

Now he was reverting back to the stuttering phase. Great, just great..

"I know you didn't mean to, but it happened and they're ridiculous for letting it happen! We're too old to argue over guys at this point, I mean, don't get me wrong, Zayn, you're really hot, like, crazy sexy...It's just...really? That's so high school!" she rambled pouring herself something to drink.

"Well, uh...I uh..thanks? But I never wanted to like, cause a ripple in your-"

"It would've happened anyway," she interrupted. Taking her cup and having a seat back in her living room, she turned on her TV to see if anything interesting was playing. "So what are you doing now?"

"Oh, I'm uh...sitting in my car," he answered truthfully. He was actually parked a few houses down from her place just in case she wasn't alright... Did that make him creepy for doing that?

Leigh-Anne hummed to herself in thought. "Well, are you busy? You should like, come over and hang out with me for a bit, there's some things we need to talk about anyways."

"There is?" he squeaked out, then sighed and facepalmed. One day, he would get all of this shyness out of his system and wouldn't feel like a prepubescent boy ever again.

"Yeah, especially if you plan to keep going to the bar when I probably won't be working there anymore," she said thoughtfully. "So can you come over maybe? It shouldn't take up too much of your time."

"Uh..yeah, I can be there in a few minutes.." Now he felt like a creep because he had to circle her block a few times before actually "arriving" at her house or just wait ten minutes. "I'll call you when I'm outside?"

"Sounds good."

They hung up and Leigh-Anne looked around her living room. Minimal clutter, the coffee table was clean, just a few scrap papers with scribbled lyrics on them and some bills she hadn't opened...she should probably hide those. She picked them up and quickly put them in her bedroom on the dresser and then checked the bathroom; clean, new roll of toilet paper, smelled fresh.

Zayn however was trying his best to compose himself.

He would be going in her house. Leigh-Anne's house, where she did domestic chores, made her music and slept...he needed a cigarette for this..Okay, two cigarettes.

He wanted to call Danny to tell him of this new development but he was sure he'd get yelled at for pussyfooting. Danny would say something like,

"After you left the bar you should've went to her place, knocked on her door, and when she opened it you should've kissed her, asked if she was alright and tell her how worried you were when you saw she wasn't there...Chicks like that heroic but worried shit."

He smoked the first cigarette down to the butt end and didn't feel any less nervous so he lit the second one, started up his car, and began driving around her block. He could do this. It wasn't like she was luring him to her lair and was going to rip off his flesh and use it for broth while she boils him alive or anything like that. Nope. She just wanted to talk, he was fine with talking to her...in close quarters...in her house...Oh God. He couldn't do this.

Inhaling deeply he shook his head and stomped out the last bit of his cigarette under his boot at her doorstep and called her back.

He could do this!

"Are you outside?" she asked when she picked up.

"Yeah.." came his answer, his voice deep from smoking.

"Okay, one sec.." Leigh-Anne peeked out of her peephole before undoing her multiple locks and smiled when she saw him standing there. "Alright, come in. Welcome to my humble abode, it is very umimpressive," she joked stepping aside and letting him in.

"You can take off your coat and hang it on the back of the door, and take your shoes off on the mat please. If you need an extra pair of socks, I've got some you can have. If it's too cold for you just tell me so I can turn the heat up-"

Zayn wasn't listening to a word she was saying, he was more interested in looking around her place and taking in everything he could. The smell of something barbecue, the TV on some program, the tasteful art hung up on the walls and it's general tidiness.

"Are you listening?" she asked stepping closer to him and helping him remove his jacket and hanging it herself.

"Uh..yeah. Sorry," he apologized taking off his shoes and wiggling his black sock covered toes on her wooden floors.

"Okay.." she said looking at him skeptically, maybe inviting him over was a bad idea...

Leigh-Anne took her place on her couch once more and patted the seat next to her.

"Come on, don't just stand there, have a seat," she ordered lightly.

Silently Zayn nodded and sat on the couch with her, on the other end, as far away from her as he could get so he didn't feel like he was intruding on her personal space.

"So uh, what do we have to talk about?" This moment was still to surreal for him, he hadn't even asked her out on a date yet and he had already made it into her home...he was doing pretty well.

"Well," she replied slowly while playing with the ends of one of her curls. "It's about the girls...mainly Perrie."

Zayn groaned internally.

If he had known they were going to discuss Perrie and her crush on him he would've lied and said he was busy, and he really hated to lie to her. He didn't like Perrie, she was too annoying and could say the dumbest things at the most inappropriate times, if she wasn't friends with Leigh-Anne he would completely ignore her and not care about being rude.

Leigh-Anne sighed and peeked at Zayn's impassive face from the corner of her eyes and wondered what he was thinking; she was always wondering what he was thinking.

"I think she's got it really bad for you, Zayn." There. She said it.

"I've noticed..." he whispered.

Perrie liked him, he liked Leigh-Anne, while Leigh-Anne liked...well, he wasn't sure who she liked, but it could be that inconsiderate friend of hers that he met yesterday. Something was definitely happening or had happened between them for her to react that way when she found out about his extra passenger in the car with him.

"And I'm just gonna assume you don't feel the same way about her..." she added.

"I don't.." he confirmed.

"And after the texts you sent me today I think it's safe to assume that you may have some interest in me?" she asked shyly, looking at him when he looked at her, then looking away.

It was flattering, that someone as attractive and apparently intelligent as him would like her.

"I um..." Of course he liked her, he had been falling hard for her for months now. "I didn't send those," he admitted.

"What?"

"My friend took my phone from me at work, he sent those texts to you.."

There had been multiple occasions where Jesy or Perrie had stolen her phone and started texting a random male contact flirty messages, so that was understandable...except the time Jesy was sending some explicit texts to her cousin. That was incredibly awkward for the both of them..

"Oh..So...you don't..?"

"No!" he denied quickly. "I mean...Yes..?"

Crap.

He carded his hair and sighed, this wasn't his ideal way of saying "Yes, I do like you" to her.

"Um..yeah. I do.." he confessed, he could feel his heart beating erratically.

"And that's where we have a problem," she replied feeling her own heart skip several beats. "Because Perrie really likes you...and when I say 'like,' I mean she wants the business."

"I've noticed that too, she always asks if I'd like to go into the back room with her..." he said lowly. He was just going to accept that Leigh-Anne didn't feel the same way about him and wouldn't tell him how she felt because it would only hurt him more to know. "I keep telling her no but she's really persistent."

Leigh-Anne smiled bitterly at her TV.

"Yeah, that's Perrie for ya.." Her smiled withered and she turned her body towards her guest. "So what do we do about all of this? I don't want to hurt Perrie, and you're a nice guy, I don't want to hurt you either..."

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't.." he whispered. He was tired of being hurt by people he cared about and it always sucks opening your heart to people just for them to see you at your weakest and hurt you later.

"So what are we going to do? It'll be awkward if you keep going to the bar and Perrie keeps like, forcing herself on you.. Do you think there's anyway you could maybe like her back?" she wondered. That would make things loads easier if he could like Perrie and have the two of them hit it off.

"Absolutely not," he answered shaking his head. "I just find her so annoying.."

This Leigh-Anne had to laugh at.

"Alright, I'll give you that...but what about this?" she asked gesturing between the two of them and Zayn shrugged his shoulders. He had already admitted his feelings for her, he could only hope that she wasn't completely against seeing him.

"You giving me a shrug as an answer isn't getting us anywhere," she reprimanded and slapped his knee.

All of this physical contact was driving him mad whether she knew it or not.

"How about we go on a date?" she offered. "Then maybe we can see where it goes?"

Was she..? She wanted to...? What?

"The two of us?" he asked dumbly.

"Yeah." Leigh-Anne nodded. They were both over the age of 18... and 21 for that matter, they didn't need any chaperones on their date. "We could go somewhere fun so it's not too weird?"

She was watching his facial expressions for hints to his thoughts and his consistent impassiveness didn't help...

"Actually, nevermind," she backtracked. "Let's just forget about it, forget I even said anything. Perrie would be pissed if she ever found out and if Harry knew I'd never hear the end of it. Sorry I even bothered, it was stupid I-"

"No, it wasn't stupid."

To be honest, he had zoned out thinking about how amazingly romantic he could make their date...and how he could also turn it into a total disater at the same time.

"But Harry," Zayn said carefully. Was it his place to ask about the nature of their relationship?

"Remember the jerk you met yesterday?"

Oh did he...

"Yeah, um..." Zayn took in a deep breath and looked towards her ceiling. "Are you guys...?"

'Please say no. Please say no.'

"Are we..?" Leigh-Anne motioned her hands for more until the wheels in her brain started to turn. "Oh! No, we're not together, like, he and I aren't dating, we're long time friends." ...Who occasionally have sex..

Zayn hummed at her answer. "Friends" didn't act that way towards one another for no reason though, but he would respect her decision not to tell him the whole story.

"And you wouldn't want him to know that we went on a date?" It wouldn't be the first time a girl he liked wanted to hide him from someone close to her.

"I don't care if he knows." She shrugged, palms open. "But he's just always been over protective, annoyingly so, and as you can see, he's a bit of a dick too."

"A bit," he agreed with a tiny smile flavored with a hint of mirth. "And Perrie being angry with you can't be good for your friendship..."

"I think she'll get over it eventually." Leigh-Anne yawned and stretched her arms upwards, one to cover her mouth. Zayn took in the fact that her shirt rose high enough to show the skin of her stomach and that she must've been cold considering all of he goosebumps on it.

"Ah, excuse me... But it'll probably be easier if she didn't know either."

"So...?" he asked awkwardly. Both Harry and Perrie were people he didn't converse with regularly, it would be easy for him to not mention their date or even him coming over to see her tonight.

Leigh-Anne smirked and blatantly scooted closer to him, Zayn gulped when he saw this but didn't move; he couldn't go anywhere when he was already pressed next to the arm of the couch, if he did he would look like he was running away from her. She leaned in close to him and could smell the scent of the cigarettes he had smoked prior to coming over; one day she'd ask about his smoking habits.

"So..." she dragged out the 'O' in the word in a teasing way. "I was wondering if you could keep a secret..?"

"Uh.." Secrets. Zayn didn't like secrets very much... But he did like Leigh-Anne..very much. "Yeah, I can keep a secret."

She kissed his cheek and grabbed his hand, he almost pulled it away from her fearing that his palms were sweating, clammy from his nervousness, or shaking from the panic attack he felt coming on.

"Good! So can I," she whispered leaning away from him and peering into his eyes. "Hey...do your eyes change color?"

Did his eyes change color? What was this?

"No?"

She tilted her head and squinted. It was hard to really tell when the lights were off and when the only light came from her TV wasn't bright enough.

"Are you sure? Cause they kinda look lighter.." Which was probably a good thing considering how dark they were yesterday and how upset he had been. Logically, it seemed like his eyes changed colors depending in his current mood...and if that was true, that meant he must be in a good one.

"Oh? Well uh.." He gulped again. She was too close and still holding into his hand. He could barely breathe, he felt like there was sweat pouring down his neck and back, and his heart seemed torn between beating irregularly and not beating at all. "W-what color are they?"

"They look.." She leaned in closer to his face to get a better look at them and he helped by widening his eyes...in fear. She was too close. Too close and he was freaking out.

Personal space wasn't something Leigh-Anne was exactly good at, and they were in her house, everything was 'her space' in her house.

"Bister," she said finally, retreating to a reasonable distance but still holding on firmly to his hand. "Like, brownish-yellow."

"Bister," he repeated. It'd been forever since anyone besides his grandma had ever used that word for his eyes. One, because nobody ever said it, for two, because nobody ever used it to describe anything, and lastly, nobody knew what that was or meant. But Leigh-Anne knew it, even gave him a definition.

"That's a good word," he mumbled looking away from her and biting his tongue. It was a word he would probably use in a game of Scrabble.

"Better than calling them whiskey colored, am I right?" she chuckled, adjusting herself to lay more comfortably on him and to wrap the arm of the hand she had taken hostage, around her.

He was going to be sick. Too much, too soon.

"I like whiskey.."

"Are you speaking metaphorically or literally when you say that?"

He smiled.

"Both." He did like his nickname...and his did like his liquor.

They settled into a comfortable silence, so comfortable that Leigh-Anne was beginning to nod off, forgetting that she had an almost stranger in her house and that she was currently using him as a body pillow. Honestly, she really didn't want to be alone. If Harry would've stayed she would've felt better, just having someone, anyone, there to comfort her in some way. Hold her, talk to her, laugh and joke with her, and after what happened today she just wanted to know that things would be alright.

Zayn found it easier to breathe without having her close enough to kiss while staring him dead in the eyes, since she wasn't speaking, there was no rush for his brain to give her an articulate answer, and since she wasn't moving, he wasn't afraid of any sudden noises; the only noise was from her TV and those were screams... What the hell was she watching?

"I don't know what I'm gonna do," she said suddenly and he jumped lightly, playing it off like he was just adjusting himself. (So much for sudden noises.)

"Well.. it's late, you could go to sleep.." he said back quietly.

"No, I mean about work.." She sighed and snuggled deeper into him, he would never believe that he was that comfy to lay on, he was mostly skin and bones.

"Oh.."

"Like, I still wanna do it and be there. I love the girls, I love performing and I've already invested so much time into that place...I just want it to be worth it in the long run. I can't deal with those three fighting all the time or how Tulisa treats me whenever she wants to take her anger out on someone; I think I deserve better than that. I'm a good person. I pay my taxes, I open doors for the elderly, help kids cross the street safely. I can't tell you how many stray dogs I've kept and nursed back to health if they needed it before giving them to the SPCA. I even give my mailman, his name his Frank, a birthday cake for his birthday and a Christmas card every year with a gift card to Dunkin Doughnuts just because he works so damn hard to deliver my mail before 1pm everyday." She was just rambling now, tiredness from constantly stressing out and the warmth radiating from Zayn had her a few seconds from falling asleep.

"I deserve better than having one of my best friends treat me like shit most of the time, and they won't stop because they know I'll still forgive them no matter what. I don't deserve much, but I think I deserve better.."

Should he speak? Tell her that yes, she did deserve better than all the shit it seemed like she put up with and that she should be ridiculously happy at all times, smiling that smile he loved on her, and laughing because she loved the life she lived? Or would he come off as a brown-noser for it?

"Or maybe I don't because I-"

"You do," he said quickly before she could finish her sentence. "You deserve the sun and the moon, the stars, the planets...even Pluto. You deserve anything and everything you think is better and will make you happy. You're worth more than what you seem to be settling for." She turned her body to look up at him as he spoke.

"You write poetry, don't you?" she asked above a whispered.

"How'd you guess?" he almost said that sarcastically. Everything he said to her and she asks about poetry?

"Because I feel like only writers and astronomers can bring astronomy into simple conversations and make it sound completely normal," she explained. "I don't peg you as an astronomer, but I'd like to read some of your poems some day if that's cool with you. I bet they're amazing."

"Nah, subpar at best. But some day, sure..." That meant she planned on being around him go awhile longer, right? Some day could be months from now..?

"Do you have to work in the morning? I'm not keeping you from something..or someone, am I?" As much as she didn't want to be alone, keeping Zayn here when he had other things that needed his time and attention was selfish.

"I start at noon and no, nobody's waiting...well, besides my dog, but he'll be fine.."

"Are you a dog person?" she asked. "I am. I've always had a dog growing up, but my last one passed away a few years ago. I was thinking about getting another one, like, something small and would fit into the 'city life.'"

"I'm an animal person, but I'd pick a dog over a cat as a pet. I tried having a cat, but for the strangest reason, she liked sleeping right next to my head at night. Sometimes I'd roll over and roll into her back, or mistakingly grab her instead of my pillow... After she scratched the crap outta me I knew I couldn't do it, so I gave her to my sisters when I moved out."

"She probably misses you," Leigh-Anne muttered.

"Yeah, she seems excited to see me when I visit my parents place," he agreed. "Plus having a dog to walk gets me out of the house."

She chuckled at this. "You seem like the type to stay cooped in the house, too. Writing poems about constellations and singing to yourself."

"Something like that." He nodded. The only thing she missed was him having his down time for painting or sketching.

"Will you sing for me now?" she asked. "We've got time and nobody else is around."

He nervously cleared his throat. "I uh...I don't have a song on hand and I haven't really practiced anything.." he said as an excuse.

"That's fine." She played with his fingers and wondered what his singing voice would sound like. "I'm not expecting you to sound like Usher, I just wanna hear you sing."

"Um.." He didn't want to tell her no, but he didn't like singing on the spot either.. "Uh.."

"Okay, how about you sing to me on our date? Would that make things easier? You'll have time to pick a song and practice it," she persuaded.

"About that..our date." Zayn took a breath and prayed he wouldn't end up saying something stupid. "What made you want to go on a date with me?"

Nope. Totally not stupid.

"Like, why now?" he added.

"Honestly?" she asked. "Because it might actually work for us. Jesy and Jade seem to think it will, and for once, I want to be selfish and not think about the consequences. There's no point in dragging out the fact that Perrie likes you when you don't like her back, and that doesn't look like it's going to change anytime soon. But I think you're a cool guy, you're nice, kinda funny when you open up a little bit, and who knows? Maybe it'll work."

Zayn hoped it would work.

"And if it does?" he asked nervously.

Leigh-Anne squeezed his hand gently as if he'd forgotten she was holding it, like he would ever forget her hand was in his.

"Then we don't have to keep this a secret. I'll tell Perrie and Harry and what happens, happens."


	4. 4

Leigh-Anne rolled over and pressed herself to the closest thing to her... Which so happened to be a man. Let's be clear on three things:

Point One: This man is as close to perfect as it was going to get when if came to the human male specimen.

Point Two: Said man had not planned any part of what is about to be addressed in Point Three, it was none of his doing. (He is not sure if he should be saddened or overjoyed.)

Point Three: The woman, identified as "Leigh-Anne" as previously stated, was vigorously grinding her core into his awakening erection.

"Mmm," she hummed into his neck before sighing.

Zayn groaned from the stimulation and huffed before realizing that he wasn't touching himself and that this wasn't some dream; he was still at Leigh-Anne's place and had fallen asleep after she had and didn't seem to budge. She'd dosed off sometime in the middle of one of her rants and he didn't have the heart to wake her up so he could leave. (As he listened to her tirade he could sense that she was holding in a lot of anger and pent up resentment towards her friends.) So as she continued to buck her hips into his, Zayn finally came to his senses.

In some way he felt like he was being sexually assaulted, she was taking advantage of his unconscious, but definitely willing, body. The twist was that she was also unconscious and probably having a triple x-rated wet dream, something so raunchy that she needed to touch herself for release. (He could only hope that he was co-starring in such a fantasy.)

Now that he was the only one of them awake and this was happening...did that mean he was taking advantage of her? Like, he wasn't even sure where to put his hands, the last thing he remembered, his arms were wrapped securely around her and he was rubbing her back so she would calm down before he went to sleep. Leigh-Anne was venting and shaking with so much anger he just held her until she was alright again ...and went to sleep.

He needed to get out of this situation unscathed. Having her wake up and feeling how hard he was wouldn't blow over well. Like, not at all. She'd accuse him of being some sort of pervert, -though morning wood is completely normal and she was the horny one this morning- before kicking him out of her house and saying she never wanted to see him again.

She whimpered softly, grabbing the front of his shirt and balling it in her hands that were forming into fists.

As gently as he could, Zayn grabbed her wrists and released her hold on his shirt, then he tried moving quietly from beneath her so he didn't wake her up. He hated feeling like he was leaving in the morning like some miscalculated one-night stand, though it wasn't anything like that -Leigh-Anne was far classier than that- he was just creeping out of her house before seven A.M., that's all..

He quietly patted himself down and yawned into his hand. He was shocked feeling completely well rested, his nights were usually fitful and he was only able to get five hours max on most nights; he slept perfectly last night.

Her looked at Leigh-Anne's peaceful face and smiled.

'She's just...' He let out a dreamier sigh than he would care to admit any time soon.

Wow.

Just thinking of how many other nights they could possibly have together made him bubbly on the inside. But first he needed to draft up a successful first date that would easily lead to a second, then a third and many more dates after that.

Zayn outstretched his arm and pushed a chunk of her hair from her face though his effort was in vain when it bounced back into its previous place. He wanted to write a note saying how he didn't mean to fall asleep and stay over, but he enjoyed last night and hoped they could do it again soon. (Sounding like a desperate one-nighter seeking another hook-up.) He would settle for waiting two hours or so before texting her. 

This was the age, who wrote notes on miscellaneous pieces of paper when you could just SnapChat or  
Glide it?

'It'll have to be a perfect date..'

He lovingly brushed her cheek with the back of his hand and knuckles and then sighed.

'Completey perfect.' But he could do perfect, he could definitely make a date for her perfect, Allah willing he doesn't make a fool out of himself, he could work on another however many more perfect dates.

Zayn reluctantly removed his hand from her face and checked his phone to see how much time he had before he had to go to work. Resisting the temptation of looking around her house while she still wouldn't know was hard, he wanted to know more about her. Like, did she have more art work hanging around? What kind of food does she keep in her fridge? Where's her music studio? What's the color of the walls in her room? The only other part of her house he had time to explore was her bathroom and that was before either of them had fallen asleep and she had actually let go of his hand long enough for him to wiggle his fingers.

Zayn crept over to the door and donned his winter things and shoes once again, he was ready to go and head home to his own lonely bed which he knew was occupied by his dog. He rubbed his eyes and mussed his dark mane not caring that it looked fucked out already. He undid her door locks, looked at her immediately shiver from the new, cold, morning air and he stepped back in her house and closed the door when he thought he heard her sniffle. He was going overboard thinking that she wouldn't be okay sleeping on the sofa and that he could (romantically) carry her to her room and tuck her in. So giving into the temptation, for less selfish reasons this time, he looked around for something to throw over her to atleast keep her warm when his extra body heat would no longer be there for her. 

He found a simple, old and handmade quilt decorated with a tree in her linen closet and draped it on her feeling better now that she wasn't so exposed. So for the second time he opened her front door and actually closed it behind him this time after sneaking another peek at a sleeping Leigh-Anne and bumped into a tired looking friend of hers named Harry.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked first, squinting his pink eyes at Zayn and looking him up and down, clearly he was scrutinizing him. "What were you doing in there and why are you leaving at this hour?"

Zayn had questions for him too like, what are you doing coming over here at this time? Why are you treating Leigh-Anne like shit if you're supposedly best friends? 

Zayn didn't attempt to answer any of his questions and decided to shake his head at Harry's stupidity and walked away before any confrontation broke out between the two of them. 

"Dude, I'm talking to you! Why were you in Leigh's house?" Harry yelled reaching out and grabbing Zayn's shoulder hard enough to turn him around so he could get an answer to atleast one of his questions.

Zayn looked down to gather himself and looked up a Harry and had a small smile that he could feel twitching into a smirk.

"She invited me over.." He lifted his index finger to his lips and tapped them. "She's asleep on the couch, so be quiet when you go in, yeah?"

And with that he walked away and remotely started up his car with the button clutched in the hand he previously shoved in his pocket.

"Son of a bitch," Harry cursed watching Zayn speed off before loudly barging in Leigh-Anne's home and slamming the door.

As Zayn said, she was asleep on her couch, curled into herself with a blanket on her that looked like she was clinging to for dear life.

In Harry's flustered mind he thought Leigh-Anne needed to wake up and explain herself right now. He wanted to know why Shitdick was leaving out of her house around sunrise and why he was over in the first damn place!

He hung up his things but left his wet boots on knowing how much she despised them and how livid she would be knowing he walked around her kitchen tracking dirty water and snow salt. Finding his way into the kitchen he rudely banged pots and pans together making as much noise as he wanted before setting them on the stove and going in her refrigerator looking for breakfast foods to cook. 

Leigh-Anne hadn't stirred during the noisy disturbance Harry made, instead she woke in a panic at the smell of something burning and trying to recall if she had been cooking. 

"Shit, shit, shit," she quickly yelled, running in her kitchen, sliding a bit from the floor being wet and saw that her oven was smoking. She turned it off coughing when she opened the door to take out whatever was burning and trying to set off her smoke alarms. 

Leigh-Anne tossed the pan on the stove and turned on the fan to clear the smoke.

"Who the fuck burned toast?!" 

She didn't see Zayn's things so she knew he was gone, the only other culprit she could think of was-

"Fucking Harry!" she screamed spotting his jacket hanging on the door and noted his absent shoes.

The first place she looked for him was in her room and that's where she found him passed out on her bed, his boots next to it.

"Harold!" she yelled, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and forcefully shaking him. "Wake up!" she demanded hacking him harder. "How could you fall asleep in the middle of cooking?! Do you know how dangerous that is?! Harold, you wake the fuck up right now!"

Leigh-Anne slapped him across the face a few times and he blinked himself awake.

"Hey, stop shaking me! And let my shirt go!" Harry angrily smacked her hands from his persons and sniffed loudly before rubbing his nose.

"Why would go to sleep if you were cooking?!" she hissed glaring at his unperturbed face.

"Oh yeah. I was cooking, wasn't I?" he asked lazily while rubbing his nose again and sniffing.

Leigh-Anne was taking in his appearance and a light went off.

"Where were you last night?" she asked slowly, squinting suspiciously at him. 

"Out," he replied after a slight hesitation.

"Out where? Don't play this game with me right now, Harry. You nearly burned down my damn house!" Leigh-Anne shouted, armed raised.

"Huhhh!!" he groaned getting up and ignoring her entire presence, he had to pee.

"Don't ignore me!" she yelled grabbing the back of his shirt and pulling hard enough to make him stumble backwards. "Where were you? When I woke up you weren't there and when I wake up the second time around, you're trying to burn us alive! What the actual fuck?"

He grabbed her wrists and pushed them away from his shirt, still ignoring her, Leigh-Anne huffed and shoved him as he walked.

"So you got high last night?" she hissed and he rubbed his nose only to prove her theory right. "Sniffing coke again, huh?"

"I might have.." he muttered to himself under his breath and closing he bathroom door in her face.

"You know I hate it when you go out and do that stupid shit, but you always do it!" Leigh-Anne spoke. "And when you tell me you quit I never believe you because I always find you like this afterwards... And still you wonder why I never believe you?"

Harry was trying to ignore her, like, can a guy piss in peace? 

"Everything I tell you not to do, you do it anyways just to spite me, don't you? And if it's not that, you're always trying to one up me for whatever reason." Leigh-Anne wrapped her arms around herself and sighed, looking at the door and wondering if Harry was actually listening to her or if she was just wasting her breath. Most likely the latter since Harry hardly ever listened to logic, and especially not if he was still high.

"Do you really think they give a damn about you, Harry? Because if you do, then you're just lying to yourself and you know it. They're just using you for your money and could care less if anything ever happened to you.."

Like the time he almost overdosed one night hanging with his "friends," and if he hadn't called her prating about something she didn't understand it might've been life threatening. She picked him up and drove him straight to the hospital so they could pump his stomach and detox him as best they could before it was too late. That night had gave her the biggest scare of her life; worse than the time she thought she was pregnant with her douche of an ex-boyfriends child after they had broken up.

After a pause and she didn't hear his golden stream flowing anymore, she wondered if she should walk away and forget trying to talk some sense into him like she always did....though the thought of him passing out in her bathroom kind of frightened her so she knocked on the door.

"Did you fall asleep?" she asked. Had she been in a better mood she would've giggled at that. There had been times when Harry had fallen asleep on the toilet and complained around how sore his ass was the remainder of the day. Those were happier times, times when Harry wasn't a complete dick.

Harry turned on the cold water and splashed his face with it. He was tired, so tired that it couldn't possibly be good, and he needed to eat before he collapsed.

Opening the door he saw her standing there holding herself, he would've reached for her but right now, she was dissapointed in him the way she always was when he came over like this after a night out. So he trudged passed her and trekked towards her kitchen. He was going to foray her fridge again and decide to stay awake long enough to eat whatever he made this time. Leigh-Anne followed silently, assuming he hadn't heard any of what she'd previously said and/or didn't care. 

"Are you hungry?" he asked her, looking for the eggs and bacon.

"Let me cook," she said softly. "You can go back to sleep and I'll-"

"I asked if you were hungry, not if you wanted to make us breakfast," Harry replied shortly. "So I'll ask you again, Leigh-Anne. Are you hungry?"

She didn't want to fight, it was too early. Harry seemed okay for the most part and she wasn't homeless or dead because of a kitchen fire. She was greatful for those things. "Yes."

"Okay, what would you like to eat? I can make you some French toast with bacon and eggs?" he offered taking out what he needed and closing the door.

"Sounds good," she said, gracefully having a seat at her kitchen table. "Thank you."

"No problem." Harry proceeded to make breakfast and Leigh-Anne excused herself to brush her teeth, wash her face and take a quick shower. When she came back, the food was plated and Harry was deciding which juice to pour, orange or apple. "Leigh, which one do you want?"

"Uh, I think I'll just have water," she replied looking at the food and loving how amazing it smelled. Harry couldn't cook, but if there was one thing he actually could make, it was French toast and eggs...The bacon was usually a little too chewy for her liking, but it was still pretty good.

"Water?" he asked dumbly and she nodded. "Okay, whatever." He poured himself a cup of orange juice and grabbed a bottle of water for her when he put the juice back. He grabbed a fork and knife from the respective drawer, put them on the plate, and slid over the plate and water over to her. 

"Enjoy," he grumbled out before turning to grab a bowl from the cabinet and a random box of cereal from the top of the fridge.

"Thanks...You're not having French toast with me?" she asked watching him add extra sugar and pour some milk in the bowl.

"No, I'd rather have cereal," he answered, pulling out a spoon and pushing the, what he recognized now as HoneyNut Cheerios, down in milk so they would soften quicker.

"Oh.." she said awkwardly. It was things like this when she felt like she didn't understand him at all. 

She was angry with him. He went out last night and did cocaine -fucking cocaine- came to her house this morning still high and could've killed the both of them in a fire because he fell asleep in the middle of cooking. Though he didn't apologize or confess the truth, he still cooked her favorite breakfast and settled for eating cereal himself. He hadn't even started an argument! So...she wasn't as upset with him as she knew she should be. Breakfast didn't change anything. It didn't change the fact that he was still doing cocaine no matter how much she hated it and begged him to stop. And it didn't change the fact that he was still jeopardizing their friendship like he didn't care.

Leigh-Anne quickly said a prayer over her breakfast and yes, she even thanked the cook, and started cutting up her French toast when she finished.

"I saw Shitdick leaving this morning," Harry said with a spoonful of cereal in his mouth.

"Harry, his name is Zayn. Stop calling him that." It was annoying, and at this point, very disrespectful on his part. "I invited him over, no big deal," she said eating some eggs.

"No?" Harry challenged, eyebrow arched in disbelief. 

"No," she replied flatly after she wiped her mouth with a napkin.

"No?" he asked again, leaning forward over the table this time.

"No, Harry, it's not," she huffed. He was being a dick so the cocaine must've worn off by now.

"I beg to differ."

"Okay," she sighed. He was ruining his nice gesture of making her breakfast with being his usual self. "Entertain me. Why is it not okay for me to invite Zayn over to my house? The one I pay bills for and clean?"

"Because," Harry said spooning more cereal into the mouth Leigh-Anne wished would shut up and let them eat breakfast in silence, "he's a Shitdick."

...

"Yup, and that's a legitimate reason for me not to have him in my house. Totally legit," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "It's so legit, I need to make sure all shitdicks don't enter my home. I'll get a huge sign that says: 'No shitdicks allowed!' Great idea, right?"

"Right." Harry nodded in approval.

"Yeah, and before I do that. Tell me, Harry, what exactly is a 'Shitdick'?" she wondered. "Just so we're on the same page."

"Jerks, assholes, douchebags, dicks," he rattled off. "Just to name a few."

"Oh...interesting," Leigh-Anne hummed tapping her fork to her lips in fake thought. "So Harry, why the hell are you still here?" she hissed throwing her fork down on her plate. 

She hadn't even had the chance to eat half of it. He sure knew how to ruin somebody's appetite by being a dick. He didn't even know Zayn but he was quick to write him off as a terrible person. Harry wanted to judge everyone but refused to look in the mirror and see how much of a shitdick he really was.

"Thanks for the breakfast," she grumbled leaving the kitchen and heading to her room.

"You barely ate any of it," Harry commented, chasing after her.

"Yeah, well, now I'm not hungry. All this talk about shit and dicks made me lose my appetite," she scoffed.

Harry grinned to himself still following her. "I think we could talk about dicks a little bit more though. Specifically mine."

"Go away, Harry. I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now."

"Then don't deal with me, just deal with my friend downstairs," he replied slyly. He could use a quick blowjob right about now. "He's lonely."

"No! Just fuck off!" she yelled. "Let Miley deal with your friend downstairs," she hissed.

"Ohh.." Harry said in realization. "So that's what this is about? Her? ...Again? Really, Leigh-Anne?"

"No, this is about me wanting you to leave me alone," she corrected.

"I think it's about you being jealous of Miley," he said back, not believing her. "I'll tell you now that you have nothing to be jealous of, we're just friends... Plus your tits and ass are definitely bigger than hers," he snickered.

"Oh, like how the two of us are 'just friends'? You're fucking disgusting," she sneered.

"You say that like it isn't your fault that we aren't together, Leigh-Anne," Harry snapped, a frown on his mouth and his eyes glaring at her. "And don't complain like you don't like it nasty," he added. 

Believe it or not, this entire time he wasn't trying to argue with her. He'd blown off her calling him a Shitdick like it was nothing and that could've been the start of an argument. 

And she couldn't argue with his comment when she did have some kinks of her own, things he didn't think she even knew about.

"But it's not my fault, Harry!" she denied. "Maybe if you stopped being a manwhore and stopped doing drugs, like I told you to do years ago, we would be together!"

"And I did! Years ago!" he yelled throwing his hands in the air. "What more do you want from me? I stopped, and what did you tell me? 'I'm not ready to be with you like that, Harry. I don't want to ruin our friendship, Harry. I still need some time to think about this, Harry,'" he said in a whiny voice that was supposed to be his imitation of her. 

"Because you only quit for two months!" she pointed out holding up two fingers and waving them.

"But I quit! I quit for you!" he replied heatedly, his face swelling with anger. "I wanted to be with you, so I did what you told me to and quit!"

"For two months!" she repeated tiredly, rubbing her temples.

"I did everything you wanted me to and for some reason you were never ready. I practically kissed your ass everyday of those two months and it didn't get me anywhere! Like now, even I told you that I quit sleeping around and doing drugs months ago, it wouldn't make a difference. You still wouldn't want to be with me," he ranted feeling himself get angry and his face hot. "It doesn't matter what I do or don't do because you don't want to be with me the way I want to be with you anyways. So why would I bother to waste my time?"

"But you haven't quit!"

"How would you know?! Huh?" he asked, truly curious.

"Because I know you! I've seen the girl you're messing around with and you're probably still high right now," she said as if it was obvious.

"I told you that Miley and I are just friends!"

Leigh-Anne sucked her teeth and said, "Friends that fuck. Nice to know you've got a Banging Buddie."

"No," he corrected. "Friends that just hang out. Friends that just talk. And I'm not high! I was never high in the first place!"

"Why are you lying?! You're eyes are pink and you keep rubbing your nose and sniffling," she scoffed. "I know you got high, and lying about it isn't making things better."

"Maybe I have pink eye? Maybe I'm getting sick? Just because my eyes are pink doesn't mean I'm high!" He was getting sick of this.

"You didn't deny it when I asked you about it earlier," she said crossing her arms.

"But did I say I was? Did I say I got high last night?" he asked knowing he had her. "Did those words come out of my mouth?"

"No. You said you went out, and what do you do when you go out? You. Get. High!" 

"Why can't I just go out, to go out? Why do you automatically assume that everytime I go out that I'm getting high? Why don't you ever believe me?" he wondered.

"Because you lie!" she said exasperatedly. "You fucking lie so damn much that I never know when you're telling the truth!"

"But I am telling you the truth, Leigh-Anne! I'll take a fucking drug test to prove it, I'll-" Harry dug in his pocket for his phone and pulled it out to hand it to her. "Here. You can call Miley and ask her yourself. Ask her if we've had sex and she'll say no."

"Then explain her hands all over you that night you came to pick me up from work, hmm? Explain her lipstick on your neck? The perfume on your collar?" 

Harry groaned and closed his eyes for a moment. He shouldn't have come over this morning, he should've gone straight home instead. But no. He felt guilty for leaving her and decided he would check on her and try to make today a day were the two of them didn't fight and were back to the way they were years ago. And everything was going just peachy! (Note the sarcasm.) This is what he got for caring. Being yelled at and interrogated over nothing.

"Miley wants me," he sighed opening his eyes.

"You cocky peice of shit," she scoffed.

"No, seriously. She's made it clear that she wants a relationship or atleast some relations. I've told her that it would be better if she and I were just friends because of you." Harry rolled his eyes until they landed on Leigh-Anne.

"I have nothing to do with the two of you," she stated. "If you want to be with her, fuck her, whatever, go ahead. Do what you want, I don't care."

"I don't want to be with her!" he shouted. Leigh-Anne obviously didn't get it. "If I did what I wanted we wouldn't be arguing over nothing! I'd be doing that one thing that I know you love and gets you screaming my name like you don't have any neighbors. Or we'd be cuddled together on the couch watching Silverlings Playbook or some shit. I didn't want to argue, Leigh-Anne, I never do! You're the one who always starts the fights with me!"

Leigh-Anne gaped at him for a moment. "This started with you being an asshole and calling Zayn Shitdick! I keep telling you that's not his name and yet you won't stop calling him that. He's a nice guy and if you actually got to know him you'd probably be the best of friends! But instead, you want to be a jerk and judge him because I want to spend time with him. That's bullshit, Harry! No, I don't like it when you hang out with sluts and yes, I would prefer it if you didn't, but they're always your 'friends' so I try and let it go. Why is it that you're the only one who's allowed to have 'friends?'"

"You have friends," he replied easily.

"No, I don't!" she yelled. "Besides the girls, I don't have any friends. You won't fucking let me! Everytime I try making friends, you always find a way to scare them off and make sure they don't want to talk or be around me anymore."

"Then why do you always want to have male friends?" he asked.

"Why do you have so many female friends?" she countered. "I have girl friends, and as of right now, you're my only guy friend and lately you've been a shitty one. And at this point, I don't even know why we're even friends anymore!"

Harry's eyes turned a darker shade of green and his mouth drew into a fine line. "Fine...If that's how you really feel, I'm gone." Harry grabbed his boots from the floor and exited her room. 

"Harry, that's not what I meant..." she said softly, regretting saying something so untrue. Harry wasn't the best when it came to friends, but he wasn't that terrible. "You know I didn't meant that.."

"No, I know exactly when you meant," he spat over his shoulder as he grabbed his coat from the door and pulled it on. "I'm done."

"Harry, no. You can't," she begged grabbing hold of his arm and tugging on his coat. "Stay."

"Leigh, let me go."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she chanted hoping he wouldn't leave. "I didn't meant it," she whispered.

"Yes, you did," he whispered back. "And you're right, I am a shitty friend."

"No, you're not. You're just...not a very good one sometimes. Don't leave." This was why they were toxic. They fought like cats and dogs all the time and she was always the first to crumble and admit defeat, even when she was right.

"I need to-"

And Leigh-Anne kissed him. It was the only thing she could do to get him to stay because Harry could never, and would never, turn down a kiss from her. 

"I'm sorry," she mumbled against his lips. Her hand trailed down his torso and rubbed his abs in seductive circles. "I didn't mean it. Forgive me."

It was a setup so he wouldn't leave, and even though he knew it, he still kissed her back and let her small hands take his jacket off.

Everytime he had one foot out the door, prepared to throw it all away, she would always yank him back inside and kiss him knowing he couldn't resist her. She needed him and vice versa. They were lacking the harmony they once had and this was the only thing they could do in sync.

"Don't leave me, Harry," she said pulling back for a moment to look him in the eyes when she said it. She still needed him and she couldn't let him just walk away.

"I'm not," he replied back. He never wanted to leave her, but if she wanted him gone, he would go. "I love you, Leigh.."

"I love you too," she whispered closing the gap between them and kissing him again. It was going to be a long day, but first, they needed to make it to her bedroom.

_x

"Do you think she's coming in?"

"I have no idea..."

"Did she answer your calls or text you back?"

"Nope."

"Not a word.." Jesy sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Things got out of hand between her and Perrie and having Leigh-Anne blow up on them about it was an eye opener. She didn't feel like what she said was wrong, it was the truth and all of them knew it, it's just the fact that she dared to say it out loud that made it as bad as it seemed.

Service last night was alot more challenging if you asked her. Not one, but two fights broke out and it wasn't between her and Perrie. Albeit Jesy did find her hand twitching to smack the living daylights out of the blonde the entire night. It was Niall being a constant distraction that had saved Perrie from being beat into a coma.

"Do you think she's ever coming back?" Jade wondered.

"Dunno," Jesy answered. "We're not exactly 'Little Mix' without her though. I really hope she does, but if she doesn't, Tulisa is gonna be pissed." 

"We've gotta stop this," Perrie announced looking at the both of them. "All of this fighting and petty arguing is beneath us. We can do better."

"Can we? Can we really, Perrie?" Jesy asked, skeptical of Perrie trying to give them a pep-talk. That's was Leigh's area of expertise and having Perrie encroach on Leigh's territory didn't sit right. Perrie showed zero signs of real leadership ability and usually held a more apathetic attitude towards everything that didn't benefit her. Her integrity to them and Little Mix as a whole was very questionable in Jesy's eyes.

Perrie gave the eldest a sharp look. "Yes, Jesy. We can." She relaxed her eyes and looked over to Jade. "We need to make some changes."

"Like what?" Jade asked innocently. She never picked fights and was more on the list of repeat victims since she wasn't one to ever fight back.

"I think we can all work on some stuff to make things here run more smoothly," Perrie explained. 

Jesy snorted and leaned back on the couch they were all sitting on in the backroom. "Things like what?"

Perrie cut her eyes to Jesy again and tried not to yell at her and instead, be mature about this. "Things like your attitude, Jesy. Or Jade's timidness."

Jesy rolled her eyes, of course her attitude was going to make the list of things that 'needed improvement.' But she asked, "And what about you? What are you going to work on, Your Highness? With all of your perfectness I'm sure it would be hard to find a flaw."

"Well I'm glad you asked, Peasant," Perrie sneered and Jesy bit her tongue and balled her hands into fists to stop herself from making another remark. Jade noticed and gently patted Jesy's leg. That was a low blow, even for Perrie. "I'll try working on being less bratty and selfish since that seems to be huge a problem for everyone."

"I think that's a load of shit," Jesy scoffed in disbelief. Perrie would be a selfish brat until the day she croaked. "And if Leigh does come back, what do you think she should work on?"

"Nothing."

Jesy's eyebrow raised in questioning. "I thought you said 'we all' needed to work on something?"

Perrie nodded. "I did. I meant 'we all' as in the three of us. Leigh hasn't done anything but keep us together for these few years and after that fail of a runthrough without her to Tulisa, I think it proved that we're stronger with Leigh than without her. Little Mix is, and will always be, a quartet, not a trio. We owe it to Leigh to get our shit together."

"Can't argue with that," Jesy said lowly. "Did you see Tulisa's face when Jade and I couldn't get the pre-chorus harmony right?" 

"Or when Perrie was flat on that final note of her bridge?" Jade added.

"Exactly. Tulisa cringed through the entire song and I can't blame her," Perrie said shaking her head, her blonde tresses following its lead. "We sound like crap without Leigh."

It was missing the raw energy she laid down on every track, and without it, they were incomplete.

"So just to be clear, we're doing this for Leigh?" Jesy asked just to make sure.

Jade beamed and put her hand in the middle of the three of them. "For Leigh and Little Mix."

"Leigh and Little Mix," Perrie repeated putting her hand ontop of Jade's.

"Alright, alright," Jesy said reluctantly. She didn't care too much for the unneeded cheerleading they did on the side for this place -they didn't get paid enough for that- but she would cooperate nonetheless. "For Leigh and Little Mix."

_x

"Oh my God, you came back!" Jade squealed in excitement running up to their fourth member and giving her a hug. "I missed you so much!"

Leigh-Anne laughed awkwardly and hugged her back. You would think she'd been gone a week the way Jade's hold on her kept tightening and showed no signs of loosening up

"I missed you too, Jade," Leigh-Anne replied. "Where's the oth- Oww! Who the hell..?" She looked over her shoulder before turning around with Jade still in her arms. "Jesy! You can't go around smacking my ass like that!"

Jesy shrugged with an unapologetic smirk on her face. "I thought you deserved a little punishment for not coming into work yesterday."

"Punishment?" 

Jesy's eyebrow quirked up in questioning. "You don't consider spankings a form of punishment? I'm starting to question everything I know about your sexual interests.."

"Well.." Leigh-Anne giggled and winked at her friend leaving the oldest to make her own conclusions. 

"I just knew you were into that stuff!" Jesy said proudly. "I can't wait to tell you how I-"

"Nope!" Leigh-Anne shouted loudly to cut her off. "Don't wanna hear it, I'm perfectly fine with not knowing."

"But it's-" 

"Noooo," Leigh-Anne said slowly. "Where's Perrie?" she asked looking for the blonde.

"Someone call me?" Perrie asked skipping from the back room with a smile. "Missed you!" She pecked Leigh-Anne's lips quickly and giggled at her friends shocked expression.

Jade had to let her newly traumatized friend go so she could cover her mouth to stop herself from bursting into laughter, Jesy was snickering and holding her stomach. Leigh-Anne always made the best facial expressions.

Leigh-Anne viciously swiped at her mouth to rub the Perrie from her lips. "Come on, Perrie, you can't do that! It's weird!"

The blonde smirked to herself. "It's not weird, Leigh. I think you would actually like it if you gave it a chance," she replied truthfully. "I know someone who would devour you. I could give them a call and set you guys up?"

Leigh-Anne shuddered at the word 'devour' and thought of all of Perrie's friends. They were, uh...eccentric, to say the least. "I'm alright, Pez. I'll stick to guys... Y'know, born a man... with a penis and balls."

"Correction, a big penis and balls," Jesy added and surprisingly, Jade nodded in agreement. 

"Um, and what do you know about big penis' Jade?" Jesy asked, putting her hands on her hips. They all knew that Jade wasn't a virgin, but she was still the least experienced one out of the four of them. 

"Nothing!" she squeaked out, gauging the distance between her friends prying eyes and the doors if it looked like she needed to make a run for it...which it did. "But, uh..size matters, right? So yeah... Team big dicks!"

The others shared a look before they all shared the same dirty grin while bitting at their lips.

"Are you saying that David Beckam has a big dick?" Jesy asked wiggling her eyebrows. That wouldn't be too shocking considering the type of pants Liam wore and how often he seemed to reach for himself. 

"Um..of course he does," Jade chuckled out nervously. "Didn't you see his SuperBowl commercial? And how else was Posh going to let herself get pregnant four times if he didn't?"

"Good point," Perrie said under her breath. And have you seen their kids? Adorable as shit. "But we're talking about your personal piece of UK meat, Liam."

"Girls, I think Jade finally had a ride on the Payne Train," Leigh-Anne concluded, adding a 'Choo! Choo!' for special effect. "Next stop: Climax!" she teased winking at her friends. "So Jade...what's it like shagging a foreigner?"

Jade was red in the face and still wondering if she could somehow get away from her friends unscathed.

"I can say that it's amazing," Jesy spoke up. "Niall makes me wonder what's in the water in Ireland."

"Did I mention Cher's from the UK?" Perrie asked. "Cause she's like an energizer sex bunny."

"...So am I the only one who hasn't had relations with a non-American?" Leigh-Anne wondered aloud, her brain recalling all of her lovers. "That's not fair..."

"Well if it doesn't work out with Zayn, I could probably hook you up with Niall's friend, Louis. If he's anything like Niall in bed, you won't regret it," Jesy said fanning herself. The flashbacks of having Niall bend her in ways she didn't think she could in the first place taking over her mind and causing her to sweat.

Perrie scowled at the mention of Zayn's name and Leigh-Anne said nothing, she only shrugged. 

"Anyways," Perrie said to change the subject from anything remotely close to the topic of Zayn and anything working or not working out between him and Leigh-Anne. "How's Liam?"

"Oh, he's a.." Jade looked down at her shoes, up at the ceiling, at each of her friends faces and finally at her hands. "Liam's alright. We met up last night and just hung out.."

Jesy chuckled. "When you say 'hung out' do you mean that his dick was hanging out with your mouth? Or was your tits hanging out with his mouth?"

"Jesy!" Jade screamed covering her face. 

"What?" Jesy frowned. "We're all big girls here, Jade. None of us are going to care if you two hooked up."

"I know, but.." Jade sighed and nervously twisted her fingers. It's not something she felt comfortable enough to admit to.

Leigh-Anne gave her a small hug before patting her shoulder. "It's alright to tell us that you had sex with Liam or if you just gave him a blowie. It's not a big deal. We've all given one and I'm sure we have atleast one embarrassing story about it."

Jesy slowly raised her hand in protest -because apparently she was a natural born dick sucker and was a pro the first time she came face-to-face with the one-eyed flesh monster- but Leigh-Anne gave the eldest a sharp look that made her lower her hand.

"No, I didn't do that." Jade's face became a feverish red. "He didn't really want me to so, um...and yeah, so like, all of it was good...and.... yeah."

Leigh-Anne held Jade at arms length and looked her friend up and down. "Well I'll be damned. Liam ate the box and wanted nothing back?"

Well, not exactly...

"That's a real man!" Jesy praised while clapping her hands. "Real men eat pussy." 

(And real women suck dick, ask Jesy, she'll tell you.)

"So is that a good enough answer for you, Jade? I think you know where you stand with Liam now, don't you?" Perrie teased pinching Jade's scarlet cheeks and loving the shade of them.

"But he hasn't said anything about a relationship. I'm not his girlfriend...atleast he hasn't said that I was," Jade said sadly, looking off to the side. "I want more out of this, I don't want this to turn into the two of us just having sex whenever he has time for me."

"Jade.." Leigh-Anne mumbled, pulling her friend into another hug and let Jesy and Perrie pile on, squeezing the smallest member of Little Mix until she sighed. "I'm not saying that seeing Liam casually is a bad thing, I'm not. I'm just saying that if you want more, you need to tell him that. Set some boundaries, give him a standard to meet and if he doesn't.."

"You kick his ass to the curb," Jesy supplied helpfully.

They pulled from their embrace and gave each other tiny smiles. 

"And the sooner you tell him, the better. He'll keep thinking that hooking up without any commitments is what you want, and since it's not, you've gotta address it now," Leigh-Anne advised.

"But what if he doesn't want to commit?" Jade asked quietly. "What if he's fine with things the way they are and me wanting more runs him away?"

Jesy clicked her tounge and gained everyone's attention. "I'm not one for commitments, so speaking from experience, if he doesn't want to commit, you can't make him. He's going to do what he wants."

"I disagree," Perrie said quickly, looking at Jesy and then over to Jade. "You could always make him think that a relationship is really what he wants."

Jesy groaned and rolled her eyes. "Why does everything have to be so manipulative with you?"

"It's not," the blonde replied defensively, grinding her teeth in irritation. "What I'm saying is that maybe Liam does want a relationship, but he just doesn't know it yet."

"Or maybe he's just in it to get his rocks off? Unlike some people, Liam's not stupid, Perrie," Jesy snapped. "He's a man. A hot one with a big dick at that. He'll have no problem finding another girl to lay under him if Jade comes at him with the relationship bullshit and that's not what he's wanting in the long run."

"There's nothing wrong with using reverse psychology, Jesy." Perrie argued. "We both know that it works."

"Of course there isn't and of course it does! I'm only saying is that if Liam doesn't want a relationship with Jade, there won't be a relationship! If Jade is willing to settle for hookups, then maybe he'll stay, and if she's not, he'll probably leave," Jesy huffed, standing her ground and crossing her arms over her bountiful chest before smacking Perrie turned too tempting for her to resist. 

This subject was making her a lot angrier than she thought it would and arguing with Perrie about it wasn't helping. She'd been through this before, a few times actually, and the end result was never in her favor.

"Okay, okay," Leigh-Anne intervened, seeing how Jesy and Perrie's bodies seemed to gravitate towards one another. It would only take a few more words before the hair pulling started and she had just gotten back to work, she didn't want to start break up fights already. "Jade, listen to me. Even though Jesy and Perrie are making good points, you have to decide what you're willing to give up and settle for. So the next time you see Liam, you tell him what you expect from him if he wants to continue seeing and being with you. If he doesn't agree, or if the two of you can't come to some sort of compromise, you should, as Jesy so eloquently stated: kick his ass to the curb... Alright?" 

Jade nodded silently, thinking over all of the advice the girls had given her. She always enjoyed being around Liam, he was probably the nicest guy she had ever come in contact with, he was equipped with manners and everything. On the day that they met, she found it difficult to say goodbye because she didn't want their time to end... and then there was the possibility of never seeing him again. 

That day she was brave. 

She had asked for his number and offered to met up for lunch or 'something that involved eating,' since she always ate when she got nervous. The five seconds it took Liam to reply were the longest five seconds of her life. His handsome face broke out in a gentle smile and he nodded shyly before he took out his phone to get her number and send her a quick text. That night, Liam decided to call her and they talked on the phone for hours.

"When is the next time you'll see him again?" Perrie asked quietly, trying not to disturb the world Jade had put herself in. They all noticed that she hadn't said anything since she voiced her concern, they only hoped that Jade didn't already shut them out.

"He said he's coming tonight," Jade whispered. 

Jesy almost snickered and said, that he wouldn't be the only on coming tonight, with a dirty smirk. Last night with Niall was different, good different, and she came so hard that she was almost certain that she could've ripped his dick off if he had tried to move. She would give Niall his props, he introduced her to some new positions that she was eager to try again tonight.

"Good," Leigh-Anne replied. "The two of you can go in the back room and talk whenever he gets here. I'll cover for you." She patted Jade softly on the back. "Don't worry, Jade. I'm sure you guys will work something out."

_x

"What the fuck is this?" Jesy asked lifting it to the light and flipping it around twice before tossing is back at the customer. "I'm not buying it. You can stay, but I'm not letting you drink with that." 

The guy groaned, clearly irritated. "Are you fucking shitting me? Okay, who do I have to fuck to get a damn beer around here?"

Jesy raised an eyebrow at the guy so she wouldn't laugh. "Normally that would be me, but I've already told you no. You shouldn't even be in here, the bouncer should've turned you away at the door. So shut your mouth, and go dance with those drunk chicks over that way." Jesy told him, pointing towards a group of three girls grinding sloppily on each other and giggling. "You're welcome."

The guy looked over to the group and scowled. He would go over there but he wanted a damn drink first.

"Tell me again why I can't drink?" he asked Jesy and she narrowed her eyes at him and picked up his I.D. once more.

"Okay, Michael? If that is your real name?" She looked between the picture and the person standing infront of her. It was the same person, though he had dyed his hair to green and had it in complete disarray instead of the neat-ish pink fringe the the photo. 

"Michael is my real name!" he insisted loudly. "Michael Clifford."

"Yeah, uh huh, right," she said ignoring him. "Even though you look old enough, the way you're acting is telling me that you've been turned down by other bars who thought the same thing: you're under the age of 21 and not allowed to legally drink," she explained.

"This is bullshit! I'm old enough to drink in Australia!" he shouted, angrily slamming his hand down on the counter.

Jesy's eyes narrowed at him, she didn't like people abusing her side of the counter like that. "Then maybe you should've stayed there, Clifford. This is America, and our judicial system doesn't look kindly upon those who provide alcohol to minors. Between the two of us, I honestly couldn't give less of a fuck, I've been drinking since I was 15." Jesy gave a shrug. "But because I work here, I have to follow the law and not to mention there are cameras." She nodded her head to the one in the corner by them and he looked at it and glared. Maybe if there weren't any cameras she'd give him a break and slip him a shot of Jack Daniels or something, she seemed like she would if her hands weren't tied.

"Your laws are fucking stupid! I just want a beer!" he complained catching her eyes again. 

"I agree, but this is 'Merica, and I can't legally give you any alcohol," Jesy repeated, and just for the sake of tormenting the poor boy she asked, "Can I get you some water?"

Leigh-Anne was having the same problems down at her end.

"Listen, it won't make a difference if you give me a beer," he said politely with a dimpled smile. "I promise I'll be alright to drive later."

"No underage drinking," she said in a tired voice for the fifth time. 

"Babe, I'm almost 21, trust me, I can handle a beer," he replied and winked at her before smirking. "I'm sure could handle you too," he flirted.

With this guys hair, dimples, and smirk, he reminded her of Harry, but more of a punk version that wore holes in his shirt with pride. After they had sex Harry stayed for another hour of naked cuddling before he dashed off somewhere and didn't come back. 

"Ashton?" she guessed trying to remember what his I.D. said his name was. She had gotten it right and his smile widen considerably and his eyes twinkled. "I'd love to help you, but I can't."

"C'mon, one beer isn't going to hurt anyone," he coaxed leaning over the counter to get closer to Leigh-Anne. His eyes flickered to her pouty lips and he smirked. "I'll kiss you for it?"

She laughed and palmed his face before pushing him so he would sit back down; the sneaky bastard had his face practically in her (very) exposed cleavage.

"You're charming," she said still laughing as he seemed to pout for a second. It could've been because his face wasn't near her breast anymore or maybe because she was still denying him alcohol.

Ashton grinning and wiggled his eyebrows at her. "I can be a lot more than that if you'd give me a beer."

"Alot more like...annoying?" she asked jokingly.

"More like fucking amazing!" he corrected. "And I'm a drummer. You know what they say about drummers, right?" Ashton sent her a cheeky wink hoping that maybe this would be how he got his desired beverage.

She cocked her head to the side. She was slightly intrigued that he could actually play an instrument and who was she trying to kid? Drums were pretty damn hot and the biceps he was showcasing under his holey shirt said that he played the fuck outta those drums.

"No," she answered truthfully. "What do they say about drummers?"

Ashton smirked and leaned over the counter again, this time he leaned in so he could whisper in her ear. 

"Drummers hit it harder."

Leigh-Anne chuckled to herself when he plopped back in his seat. It was a cute answer. He was cute. 

"So about that beer?" he wondered.

Again, she shook her head no and looked passed Perrie and over to Jade. Liam hadn't showed up yet and since their little talk, she hadn't said much, she seemed all sullen about the entire thought of it.

"You know I can't give you anything with this I.D., right?" Jade asked the guy sitting in front of her as she filled up a shot of tequila for another customer.

He quietly nodded in understanding. "It was worth a shot," he mumbled lowly. "I told them-" He nodded towards Ashton, Michael, and his other friend that was arguing with Perrie, "-that their idea wouldn't work." 

Calum knew a guy that made fake I.D.'s that looked valid and all it took was a few looks exchanged glances from Michael and Ashton and they were moving full steam ahead with buying them. Luke tried his best to tell them it wouldn't work, however they were convinced -especially Ashton since he was almost 21 anyways- that their plan would work... Yet every bar they've gone to has turned them away.

Jade gave him an understanding smile. "Friends, am I right?"

"You're right," he agreed smiling back and thinking that her smile was pretty.

"Anything else you'd like? We have plenty of chasers," she offered wiping the counter free of spills and setting a cup down infront of him.

"Yeah, anything's fine I guess," he said sighing and looking down at the counter she had just wiped off. 

"You look a little down..." she said to him picking up a bottle of Pepsi and pouring it into the cup for him. "So even though I can't give you a beer, I can give you someone who'll listen for a few minutes?"

The guy smiled to himself and looked back up at Jade who started to fidget from his gaze. He might've been underage, but he was still attractive, everytime she saw him playing with his lip ring she tried to fight the oncoming blush she felt creeping up her neck. 

"I'd like that.." he said back. 

"Yeah, um, what was your name again?" she asked biting her lip when she noticed his tongue had touched his piercing.

He extended his hand out to her and she shook it noticing how many calluses there were on it and trying to guess what he did on a daily basis. "Luke, and yours is..?"

"Jade."

Luke released Jade's hand and busied his own by fiddling with his drink. "Thanks for this by the way," he said politely, giving her the slightest smirk when he lifted the glass to his lips.

"Y-yeah, no problem," Jade stuttered out, looking over towards Perrie as she laughed at something the guy before her had said.

"You're stupid!" Perrie cackled out, feeling like she couldn't breathe. "You and your friends should just leave, none of you are going to get a beer. You can dance if you wanna and you can have any nonalcoholic drinks you want. But you're not getting a beer, or a shot, or anything with alcohol from here until you're 21."

"Hey, I'm not the blonde gallivanting around looking like a damn witch with bad makeup. I should sue you for emotional distress and demand that you pay me in pints," he said seriously, crossing his arms over his chest.

Perrie laughed again. "If I was a witch, don't you I think I would've made you disappear already? And what judge is going to order that? They would have to be stupid too!"

"Need I remind you that you're a fucking blonde?" he wondered with a raised brow. "Me and my mates only want a beer. We've been working hard on our music and we want a break. A break that includes getting drunk off of beer. We're on break, but we need the beer. Do you see what's missing here? So why don't you just be a nice lass and hand me one?"

"Because that's not how this works, Buddie," Perrie replied with a superior smile. "See, my friends and I are artists too, so I understand wanting a break because you've worked so hard. A good beer can help you unwind and let you relax some. However, ontop of the fact that you're stupid for thinking these I.D.'s would work, you're under the age of 21 and -"

"For fucks sake!" Calum yelled, his hands thrown dramatically in the air. "I know how old I am!"

"So then you know you're not old enough to legally drink. Case closed... Now move out of the way, I have customers that want to sit down. Customers who are atleast 21," Perrie snapped with a glare. The banter between them was entertaining a first, he was sassier than he looked, but he cut her off a second ago and she hated being interrupted almost more than anything. 

Calum gave her a dirty look before standing up and stalking over towards Michael and muttering something that made him give Perrie a look. Michael then looked back at Jesy and smiled when she slid him a piece of paper with an address on it.

"Thanks, Jesy," he replied, getting up to collect the other half of their band. 

"Maybe we could play here?" Michael heard Ashton say to Leigh-Anne as he and Calum made their way over. He smirked and shook his head. Everywhere and anywhere they went, Ashton was always finding a way to network. Tonight their mission was to get beers and get drunk, maybe even get laid, not another gig. 

"I'd have to ask the manager about that. I don't think she'd like whiching up the music routine in here," Leigh-Anne told him honestly. 

After he finally realized that there was no way she would give him anything to drink, he began talking to her about his and his friends passion for music. About how their band, 5 Seconds of Summer, wanted to bring back guitars and who did what in the band. It caused Leigh-Anne to give the boy sitting infront of Jade a few curious glances. The shy looking one subtly hitting on Jade was the lead vocalist?

"You should give me your number just in case she says yes," Ashton told her. 

"How about I take your number and call you if, and only if, she says yes?" 

"I guess that's fine, but you could always text me or something. I'd love to teach you how to play the drums," he replied sincerely.

"And show me how hard you can hit?" she asked giggling to herself.

"Yeah, and a little bit of that, too," he said coyly, looking over his shoulder when Michael laid a hand on it. "We leaving?" Ashton asked before he scrawled his name and number on a napkin and pushed it towards Leigh-Anne with a wink. "Call me."

"Yeah, the one down there," Michael pointed at Jesy, "-gave me this address and said they don't I.D. so I'm ready to get the fuck outta here."

"Luke," Calum said patting his back. "Let's go."

Luke nodded towards his friend and smiled at Jade once more. They had a wonderful conversation and he wished he didn't have to leave so soon. 

"It was nice talking to you, Jade." Luke outstretched his hand for one last handshake. Jade met him halfway and felt her temperature skyrocket.

"Same.." Once again, she started fidgeting. He was just staring at her, poking at his lip ring and hadn't let go of her hand. "Um...see you when you're 21?" she joked just to break the silence.

Luke cracked a small smile and dropped his hand from hers. "Maybe sooner. I might drop by again so we can finish our conversation. It was fun." It was better than trying -and failing- to persuade her to let him have a beer.

"T-that uh..would be nice.." 

Luke gave Jade a wave and followed his friends that were heading towards the exit. He only looked back at her once and smiled again, while Jade sent him a shy wave with wiggling fingers. 

When the four had successfully made it out of the establishment Perrie, Jesy and Leigh-Anne all gave Jade a look.

Having felt the need to be first to say something about it, Jesy asked, "What the fuck was that?" 

"It was nothing," Jade mumbled immediately.

"No, it was something. You look all eternally in love with him and shit," Jesy said back.

Jade blushed to herself. "I'm not! He was nice and we had a nice talk, that's all." About animals...in a bar..and neither of them had a drop of alcohol in their system.

"Your face says otherwise," the blonde pointed out. "You only blush like that when Liam's around," she also noted.

Jade groaned and put her face in her hands. She was still waiting for him to arrive so they could iron things out.

"Liam probably isn't coming tonight anyways," Jade said to herself.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it," Leigh-Anne said rubbing Jade's back. "You know he's always running late, and if he can't make it, he'll let you know. He always does..."

"Yeah, but-"

"He's not like Niall, Jade. We know that drunk will be here every night, and if he isn't, it must've been an emergency that would keep him away from Jesy- I mean, the beer," Perrie says, side stepping the slap Jesy sent her way.

"She's got a point, Niall should be walking through the door any second now," Leigh-Anne said still rubbing Jade's back. 

"And Zayn would be following Niall's lead in about an hour," Jesy added. "Don't worry."

The door opened and just like they foretold, Niall was entering with a huge smile on his face.

"See? Predictable," Jesy said smirking as she checked him out from head to toe. He looked good in his slightly tight tee as he made his way over to his favorite seat. "Hey stranger," she greeted. "We were just talking about you."

"Hey," he replied back, quickly leaning over the counter and kissing her lips.

Jesy was aghast. It showed on her face and was more apparent when she hadn't hit him right away. 

"Yeah.." she said shaking it off and picking up a mug. She wasn't going to acknowledge the kiss, she was going to ignore it like it hadn't happened. Niall's kisses in the bedroom were magic. But this was not the bedroom, and they were not having sex right now. Niall somehow misunderstood that what they did at her place should not translate over to the bar. "What would you like?"

Niall playfully responded, "You," and kissed her lips again. "But I'll take the usual for now."

It was happening so fast that Jesy found herself just unable to react. Her normal reaction would've been her fist flying into his jaw, but instead she obediently poured him his beer.

The others exchanged similar looks of shock. Where was the Jesy outburst that they were expecting? Was there more going on between those two where Jesy was going to act as if Niall hadn't kissed her twice? No, they weren't heated kisses, but when did Jesy start letting guys kiss her over the counter?

"How was your day at work?" she wondered, pouring a drink for someone else.

"It was good. Just seen some of me regulars leaving here," he said smiling at Jesy. 

"Leaving?" Perrie wondered interrupting their conversation. "Was there four of them?"

"Yeah!" Niall said excitedly. "Great lads, they do music and stuff. Didn't think I'd ever see them leaving outta here though."

"You actually know them?" Perrie asked and scoffed, Niall nodded in confirmation.

"Yeah. Micheal, Ashton, Luke and Calum," he answered. "Awesome lads."

"Small world," Leigh-Anne said to Jade who nodded but now kept her eyes trained on the door. 

And it opened.

And Liam stepped in.

And Jade was ready to have a heart attack.

"He's here. He's here," she chanted pulling away from Leigh-Anne and smoothing down her hair, slapping her face and fixing her clothes. "Do I look alright?"

"Jade, get it together," Perrie told her with a chuckle. "Of course you look alright. Calm down."

"Okay, okay.." Jade took deep breaths and watched Liam walk over to her with a smile on his lips. She blushed remembering where those lips had been last night and turned away from the counter of the bar to slap her face again.

"It's like she's havin' a mini freak out," Niall commented to Jesy as he too, watched their friend. "Kinda funny to watch though."

"You have no idea how crazy her freak outs can get," Jesy said back shaking her head. "One time she almost pulled a Britney Spears and cut her hair off."

"Really?"

"Really," she replied. "I damn near had to wrestle the scissors from her hands."

"Jade," Leigh-Anne said grabbing her friend by both of her arms and gently shaking her. "Jade, you've got this. You're going to go back there and tell him how you feel and what you want. It will be alright."

Jesy whispered to Niall, "If it doesn't work out, one of those customers of yours might be Jade's new boo. I think they hit it off."

Niall laughed in surprise and leaned in closer to Jesy so he could feel more of her body heat. "What? Which one?" 

"The one with the piercing," she whispered back, sensing how close they now were to each other and adjusting herself but not moving away. 

"Y'know, it might actually work between those two. She's kinda his type..." Niall said thoughtfully, eyeing a patch of unmarked skin on Jesy's neck and feeling like it could use some color.

"He's like five it won't work," she scoffed watching Liam finally take a seat. 

Niall snorted. "He's definitely not five." 

Niall battled with himself. He had gotten away with two kisses uninjured, would he be just as lucky if he kissed her neck? Or would Jesy prefer a quick nuzzle?

He went for the nuzzle to be safe.

He inhaled her scent and sighed contently in her neck. Whatever shampoo she used was working for her.

The hair on Jesy's neck stood straight up and she thanked all that was good for Leigh-Anne and Perrie being distracted by customers and Jade distracted by pulling Liam into the backroom. 

It was frightening. "Niall? What are you doing?" she asked him, but not making a move to push him away.

"Why? You don't like it?" he asked still nuzzling her skin and wondering if maybe he should've went with the kiss instead.

"That's not it." She had decided that she did like the affection from him. There wasn't any ulterior motive behind it when they've already had sex. This was just Niall being affectionate because he wanted to... And that scared the shit out of her. "But what the fuck?"

Niall chuckled into her skin and left it with a kiss before he pulled back and looked her in her eyes. There were so many times when he wanted to tell her how much he loved her eyes. There was something about their color and her attitude when she was angry that made them look phenomenal. Or when he was about to push her over the edge and he made her look at him because they were glazed over and so needy. He didn't think there was a better sight in the world.

He had it bad. So bad. Albeit he didn't know how bad he had it for her until he almost cut his finger off at work. First the fire, now the knives. Why couldn't he just accidentally cut more cheese than what was needed? Why couldn't his Jesy daydreams put him in less potentially harmful situtations? He always found himself in a dangerous predicament whenever he thought of her -be it the sex with her or her personality- and it was compromising his life. 

"Because I missed you today, Jes."

_x

"Liam," Jade said pulling him along and getting him to have a seat on the (in)famous backroom couch and she followed, sitting down graceful and crossing her legs, showing her blemish free skin. "I've been thinking and-"

"Wait, before you say anything.." Liam took a deep breath, bit his bottom lip and reached in his pocket. 

Jade's eyes were instantly glued to his pocket and what Liam could possibly be pulling out of it. Like, what if it was a promise ring or something? Did he really like her that much to buy her jewelry? Maybe she had nothing to worry about at all and she was simply being her overly insecure self and conjuring up stupidity? That was something she had done before and it wouldn't surprise her.

Jade gave him an excited smile that was instantly wiped from her face when she saw that it was merely his phone that he was reaching for. Not a box with a shiny ring or stunning pearls. 

A damn cellphone. 

Liam quickly checked it and frowned at the screen from the text he received. He wasn't sure why this person was deciding to text him now, they had stopped talking awhile ago.

'Of course it would be his phone.. Kinda rude when we really need to talk,' Jade thought, trying to be polite and not look at the name of the person he was sending a short reply to.

"Sorry about that," Liam said giving her a dry laugh. "I wanted to say that last night was amazing.."

And there it was. The smile she had before was back and she felt giddy thinking that yes, Liam wanted exactly what she did from their, uh...union. She didn't need jewelry to make herself feel good about her relationship with him.

"But it was a mistake," he huffed carding his hair and effectively ruining the inital style of it.

Once again, no trace of the gleeful smile seconds ago could be found. If she had any of the personality Jesy politely shoved down people's throats, she might've tried to choke Liam for playing with her emotions the way he was.

"Don't get me wrong, Jade, I like you! I do! But I thought about it when I got to my flat and realized it was a mistake and it shouldn't have happened. I had time to think about how you would take it and what you thought that would mean for the two of us. I thought about how fast it all happened and I'm sorry about your shirt but it was getting annoying," Liam ranted. She had on a pretty shirt with buttons, and like some savage, he tore it open, popping those buttons all for the sake of nipples and boobs. (A great cause.) He had thought long and hard about it and Jade deserved to know everything. 

"I can't lie, Jade, I loved it." He really did, if Jade could've handled more he would've given her plenty more to write home about. "I try not to be that guy who mistreats women and makes them look at guys like they're all the same and I feel like that's exactly what I did yesterday. We haven't put a label on whatever this is and I didn't want you to feel as if I'm manipulating you to do things because you have feelings for me."

Jade listened and understood as much as she could without wondering why he would still call it a mistake. He knew about her feelings and he just admitted that he held some for her too. Where was the mistake? Surely he liked it, but was she honestly not good enough? She had lied, well, omitted the truth. She hadn't told her friends because she didn't want them to think that she was easy. They slept together and she didn't want the girls to know. She wanted to tell them but being the type of person that she was, she didn't have sex with guys that she wasn't in a relationship with and she and Liam were definitely not in a relationship.

Liam sighed. "I haven't even been in America that long and I thought about what my mum would say if she knew I'd slept with someone I've only known for a handful of weeks. She'd be ashamed and-"

"Ashamed that you slept with some American whore. Yeah, I get it," Jade cut in rudely. She didn't need to hear about how this could put him in a bad position with his mother. According to him, he wasn't a Momma's Boy, when in truth he was because she was always calling him when the two of them were hanging out. "We can just forget that it ever happened then."

"No!" Liam said raising his voice. He grabbed her hands in his and sighed. "No," he said again but quieter. He cared a lot for Jade, he just needed to really sort himself out before jumping into a relationship. "Forgetting about it is the last thing I want to do."

"Then what do you want, Liam? Cause you're making it sound like we want two different things," Jade muttered. 

"I...I.." Liam found that his mouth had gone dry. He didn't exactly expect this when he said he would come by tonight. "I want to keep seeing you, Jade."

"And that's it, right? Just causally seeing me with no commitment?" 

Oh...the "C" word..

Liam's eyebrows furrowed together. "Jade, you know I've been hu-"

"Save it, Liam," she said yanking her hands from his. She should've known it would come to this, the same old excuse. "I've been hurt before too, but I don't feed that line to everyone I start getting close to. I don't think I've done anything that would make you think that I would ever hurt you, and if I have, I'm sorry. It's been two months of you treating me like you wanted to be together and I'm sorry for thinking it was more than you just being friendly. If you didn't want a relationship with me you should've said so before we..." She paused and gulped. "Before we did what we did yesterday." 

She didn't regret it until now. Jade was so sure that they would be together after that and was feeling crushed in hindsight of it all. As willing as she was yesterday, she felt completely used today.

"Jade, it's not that I don't want to be with you... I just-"

"No, no," Jade said cutting in with a sad smile and apathetic eyes. "Let me guess? It's not that you don't want to be with me. You just don't want to be with me right now? Am I right?" she asked and scoffed. "Of course I am."

"Jade..." Liam frowned when his pocket vibrated again. "Don't be like that..."

Jade's arms flew into the air in exasperation and she groaned. "Be like what, Liam? Hurt? But I am hurt! I am hurt, Liam," she stressed the word 'hurt' thinking that maybe Liam would understand. "I've spent seven weeks of my life getting to know you, hanging out, sharing stories and showing you that I would never hurt you. I know seven weeks isn't a long time but it was long enough for me to start thinking that something good could possibly come from it." 

Jade sniffled and patted her eyes as Liam sat there in silence and watched her breakdown. Everything hurt a lot more when she finally said them aloud. She shouldn't have kept all of these thoughts and feelings bottled up for so long, it was an unhealthy habit of hers and she knew it. She would've called one of the girls but she hated to bother them with something so trivial and there wasn't really anyone else she could talk to about it.

"If I would've known how painful this would've been seven weeks ago, I wouldn't have stopped and asked if you needed help. I would've left you there in the cold to freeze like everyone else," she told him and started laughing deliriously. "But no good deed goes unpunished, I suppose," she said in a chirpy tone with another sniffle attatched at the end.

"Jade.." Liam reached his hand out to touch her arm and she twisted away from him with a smile.

"Please don't touch me, Liam," she exclaimed and stood up to create more distance between them. She had to. If he touched her, hugged her, or rubbed her leg, she would cave. "I think you should leave now, I have to get back to work."

"Jade," Liam said sternly, standing up as well, his position on the couch just wouldn't due. "I didn't come here just to leave with you mad at me."

"Really? How did you expect me to feel, Liam? You knew I had feelings for you and you didn't bother telling me that I shouldn't get so attatched because you weren't looking for anything serious? I have a right to be mad!" she yelled. "You were fucking leading me on and you knew it," she spat. 

"I wasn't trying to lead you on, Jade," he said taking a cautious step towards her. "I never intended to hurt you, I-"

"Liam, please," Jade said stepping away from him and trying to smile. "Just leave. Even if you didn't intend to hurt me, you did." She took a moment to chew her bottom lip and build up the courage to say what was on her mind. "And I'm not okay, Liam. I'm not okay with just hooking up with you and not actually being with you. I want a relationship, you don't, and I guess that's okay. But I'm not doing this. I'm not going to settle for hooking up with you and not having you commit to me."

"Jade.."

"So until you're ready for a relationship, I'd appreciate it if you didn't call or text me anymore," she said in a shaky breath and running a hand through her hair. She wanted to cry her eyes out right now. 

"So that's it? You don't want to talk to me because I'm not ready for a relationship?" Liam asked bewildered at her ultimatum.

"No." She shook her head and looked at him. "I don't want to talk to you because I'm hurt, you've been playing with my feelings from the beginning, I'm angry, and because maybe I'll find someone else who will commit to me when it's obvious how much I want to be committed to them..." An image of Luke's shy smile popped up in her thoughts. "So if you don't mind, there's the door." She pointed at it just in case he somehow forgot. 

He had no answer. There was nothing he could say. He cared about Jade but relationships had always made him twitchy, and no matter how much he still wanted to be able to talk and hang out with her, he would respect her choice and discontinue their friendship. 

"Alright then," Liam mumbled, still walking over to her and embracing her on final time. She wished he hadn't because her resolve instantly weakened and she wanted to say forget everything, she was okay with being a hookup. "I'm gonna miss you," he murmured in her ear and she sighed in agreement. When he pulled away he contemplated kissing her, it would probably crush her more if he did and he didn't want to hurt her anymore than he already had.

With a weak push Jade was able to free herself from Liam's strong arms, he brushed it off but still felt the sting in his chest when she did. He left her and Jade collapsed onto the couch in tears when she thought it was safe. The girls all gave Liam naughty and excited smiles that he didn't return and exited the bar.

They shared looks and knew something had happened if Liam was leaving and Jade wasn't coming out behind him looking embarrassed. 

"I'll get her," Jesy volunteered to get away from Niall. He was talking more and drinking less than his normal gallon and a half and it was about the date she reluctantly agreed to.

Jade's makeup was smeared and running down her face when Jesy found her. Jesy sighed and pulled Jade into a protective hug.

"You shouldn't cry because he didn't realize how great of a person you are. There will be other guys that'll see how smart, loving, beautiful and strong you are and then he'll see what he missed out on," Jesy said reciting what Leigh-Anne had told her years ago when she had been crying over a guy. You can bet your sweet ass that he was the last guy Jesy ever shed tears over. "Liam just didn't deserve you, Jade, and that's his loss.."

Pathetically, Jade nodded into her chest. She didn't believe anything Jesy was saying, she knew that they were only words of comfort and that didn't make them true.

"Don't worry, Jade. I'm gonna get you so fucked up tonight that you won't even remember who Liam is. But first we've gotta get you cleaned up, your face makes you look like a hooker on heroin."

__xx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, what's wrong with Leigharry in this fic? Why can't they just be normal? Lol, I wanted to have Jiam together but it was just too easy, and I'm difficult :). How about that Nesy though?? I tried making this chapter a little longer but...yeah.
> 
>  
> 
> Outtie xx


	5. 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unedited.

Jesy made good on her promise.

Too good.

Jade was so drunk off her ass that she had taken to dancing on the bar, dancing with customers, and if Leigh-Anne hadn't stopped her, she would've kissed a girl for $5 on a dare from an unknown voice in the crowd ready to exploit her intoxicated state. 

Perrie found it funny, as did Jesy, but Jesy had her own issues. Issues that were Irish and named Niall, and him asking her where she wanted to go and what she wanted to do on their date —the weather was finally going to break for good and it allowed for more Spring time activities, and he was absolutely giggly about it. His eyes never left her the entire night and Jesy had never felt more self-aware. He watched her every move and smiled along to them. When she bent over to grab another shot glass or mug, he was smiling at her. After she had hissed out a rude comment to a customer that was making her angry, he was smiling. Even when she had given Perrie the finger for calling Niall out on his smiling ways, he was still smiling.

What was a girl to do?

She wanted to yank Niall by the ear and pull him into the back room so they could have a little chit chat of their own. He needed to cut it out. Dammit, she wasn't Jade. She knew exactly what she wanted from hooking up with Niall, a bit of fun, good dick and great orgasms. Take heed, the word "relationship" was not listed, and if Niall didn't understand that, she would gladly give him a crash course in Jesy 101.

Sure she told the girls she would give him a chance, but she didn't like his full-court press for a date. She would do things at her pace and her pace only. Niall was definitely into her, he was into her in more ways than one, if you understand what I'm saying. (Wink wink.) There was no rush for the two of them to start a relationship, there would be plenty of time for that, if, and only if, that was what she wanted.

Niall's goal was to stay sober until he got what he wanted, he succeeded, and was very proud of himself. The Irishmen honestly didn't think he had it in him to sweet talk his way into a date with his fiesty lover. Jesy? On a date? So, yes. So after his goal was accomplished, he got drunk in celebration of his great victory, he thought he earned it. As a devout customer who had been there almost since they had first open their doors three years ago, he could say with much arrogance that he, Niall James Horan, was the first man to have Jesy "ManEater" Nelson accept his invitation for a date.

Fuckin' score.

The woman with the mouth of a well educated sailor was going on a one-on-one date and she was going to like it, dammit.

_x

She wished she was stronger than this. Stronger than resorting to alcohol to numb herself from the pain she felt pulsing through her heart with every best of it. Stronger than actually considering doing something drastic and regretting it later on. But she wasn't.

She was Jade.

Jade wasn't entirely sure what happened after her third shot of tequila, but she knew she would be safe with the girls looking over her. Tequila, Remy Martin, Everclear, Hennessy, she had even tried one of those Fuck Me In The Ass Sideways concoctions that Jesy made regularly for Niall, and her throat burned pleasurably. So Jesy was right. She had forgotten all about Liam for the time being. The last thing she could recall was stumbling beside Leigh-Anne as she held her hand tightly on their short walk to Harry's car. She also remembered tripping and hitting the pavement pretty hard and scraping her knees, but it was all good, she couldn't feel a thing with all of the alcohol surging through her veins. 

She was numb, and she liked it. 

But when she awoke with the hangover from hell she felt the scrape on her knees and remembered that Liam was no longer in her life, her heartache came rushing back to her full force.

"Leigh?" Jade mumbled into her phone pitifully. She put the curly haired woman on speaker and turned the volume down to its lowest setting.

"Yeah," her friend answered back quietly. "How are you feeling?"

"I..I think I'm dying, Leigh," Jade replied and heaved into her toilet. "Definitely dying.."

Leigh-Anne covered her mouth to prevent her laughter from escaping and possibly causing Jade more pain. Jade didn't want to listen to Leigh-Anne's advice about slowing down, not to mix light and dark liquor and, "Don't take those tequila shots back to back." Instead Jade snorted, downed another shot and asked Jesy if there was any chance she had some Jello shots she could take.

"See what happens when you don't listen?" Leigh-Anne asked lightly. "I tried to warn you but noooo, you wanted to listen to Jesy and -"

"I know, I know." Jade moaned and clutched her head in pain, the sound of her own voice was making her headache worse. "This is Jesy's fault," she blamed and heaved again.

"Don't blame Jesy," Leigh-Anne chided. "You could've said no after the second shot.. Though I don't know why you tried to have a drinking contest with Niall." Leigh-Anne laughed into her hand again. 

"I did what?" Jade asked bringing her head out of her toilet. "Did I atleast win?"

"Nope, you lost miserably," Leigh-Anne told her with a smile. "You even started twerking on the bar and almost fell off twice. You should've seen all of the tips we got last night! And you said I could be a stripper? I didn't know you could move like that, Jade."

"Oh God," Jade muttered in embarassment, clutching her throbbing head. "I'm quitting, I can't go back there. Everyone's gonna think I'm a slut now."

"Jade, nobody is going to think you're a slut because you decided to let lose a little," Leigh-Anne said reassuringly. "And if anyone says anything we'll just have Jesy slam their face against the counter, okay? She hasn't reached her usual quota when it comes to fights this month so it'll be fine."

Jade chuckled and shook her head, not too fast though, she was afraid of making herself dizzy and spurring on her vomiting. 

"Yeah...but I'm still dying over here, Leigh.."

"Aww, poor baby," Leigh-Anne cooed into the phone. "Does Jadeykins want Leigh-Leigh to come over?" she teased in her baby voice to annoy her friend.

"Leigh, you're so not helping right now, I'm throwing up my stomach lining," she whined. "It's yellow."

"Does she?" Leigh-Anne asked.

Jade hesitated for a moment thinking that she was going to hurl again and took a deep breath.

"Yes... Jadeykins wants Leigh-Leigh to come over," she confessed and immediately hurled again. "It's yellow with black dots," she updated.

"Okay, I'll be over soon," Leigh-Anne promised. "I'll get Harry to drop me off and I'll bring some hangover stuff okay?"

"Okay." 

They quickly said their goodbyes and Jade took the last of her energy to pick herself up from her cold bathroom floor, brush her teeth and lay on her livingroom sofa. She was never going to let Jesy make her drinks again.

_x

"Damn," Niall muttered, loosening the grip on the fistful of hair in his hand.

Jesy licked her lips before pursing them into a cocky smirk as she wiped her face. "And that's how you suck with ice."

Niall let out a breathy chuckle and put a hand on his bare chest. "I guess that makes you the real MVP when it's comes to suckin' dick, Jes," he told her when she joined his side on her bed.

"You're damn right it does! I wasn't gonna talk the talk and not walk the walk." And she slayed that red carpet a second ago.

Jesy sighed in content and snuggled closer to the faux blonde causing him to wrap an arm around her. She closed her eyes and felt her body relax beside him, he was comfortable and warm. He was a little squishy too, muscular in all the right places, but not like a stone. Squishy was good.

"I'll let ya have all the bragging rights ya want for that," he whispered. Niall's hand began stroking her hair and twisting a lock of it around his finger. "So Jesy, got any plans for the day?"

"Not really, just work..." Jesy hadn't planned anything. She thought about getting her nails done but she didn't want to go alone. She received a text from Leigh-Anne about going to nurse Jade back to life after last night, and Perrie.. she wasn't feeling Perrie right now. 

Regardless of how they said they were going to try to do better with their meaningless squabbles, Jesy knew that Perrie didn't mean it. The blonde was that stereotypical pampered brat who had always attended prestigious private schools growing up and it only took a bat of her false lashes and a flick of her wrist for those around her to do whatever she wished. Jesy didn't believe Perrie at all. She did believe that Perrie loved them, honestly, she did. But it was a well-known fact that Perrie loved herself, and would always love herself more.

Niall hummed thoughtfully, his fingers still threading through her hair. It glided through so effortlessly and was easily one of the softest things he had ever touched in his life.

"Any plans for you, Irishmen?" she asked lazily. "Shouldn't you be at work?"

"Nope, I took off. Thought maybe we could plan out our date and -"

Jesy's hand flew to his mouth to silence him. She would prefer to spend the rest of the day having sex rather than talking about the date Niall was so stuck on making sure they had.

"I don't wanna talk about that right now," she muttered into his chest, letting go of his mouth. She wanted to put this date on hold for as long as she could.

"So what do ya wanna talk about then?" 

"Doesn't matter. As long as it isn't that."

Niall rolled his eyes. She wasn't going to avoid this date with him for very long, he wouldn't let her. She said she'd go and she was going to. 

"I want you I meet Louis."

Jesy quietly gasped to herself. "Really?"

Louis was legendary. Louis was so legendary that Jesy had convinced herself that "The Tommo" didn't exist. That all of Niall's extravagant stories of him and Louis were BS. That Niall was just talking out of his ass to impress her. After knowning Niall for years and not seeing Louis once, Louis seemed like Niall's imaginary friend.

"Yeah. I've been thinking 'bout it, and I think him and Perrie would get along. Y'know, that way she'll leave that other lad be and him Leigh-Anne can work somethin' out," he said. "I can tell he likes her."

"Everyone can tell that he likes her," she stated, pinching his nipple and making him adjust himself; she knew he liked his nipples pinched.

"Yeah, but he looks at her like.." The way he imagined he looked at Jesy ever since their first night together. Like she could possibly be everything he ever wanted or needed in a woman.

"Like?" Jesy turned her head so she could look at him. He had stopped mid sentence and she thought that was odd of him when he talked a lot and hardly ever stopped.

Niall gazed back at her. His eyes searching her own for answers to questions he doubted he would ever ask. When Jesy's lips slowly parted, he licked his own and thought their conversation had to be put on hold. He just wanted to kiss her.

"Like he truly cares about her," he whispered, leaning in and capturing Jesy's lips.

_x

"I feel so much better now!"

"I knew you would," Leigh-Anne said. She chuckled at how energetic Jade seemed since her headache had passed.

"I need to buy some of this."

"Gatorade? Why? ...Are you planning to get drunk again?" Leigh-Anne asked. "Because you're not an athlete."

Jade thought about it while she waited for Leigh-Anne to arrive. She had fun letting loose, and wouldn't mind doing it again. Slowly, her memories of last night were coming back and she knew she had loved feeling free and saying forget her inhibitions. And thanks to Leigh-Anne, she knew the way she preferred to cure her hangovers; nothing worked as fast as the sports drink had. 

Jade shrugged. "I thought about it," she replied honestly.

Leigh-Anne stayed quiet for a moment. 

Jade was only supposed to relax for a night so she wouldn't think about Liam. Now she wanted to continue partying like the way she had less than 12 hours ago? Exactly how often did she think of Liam for her to want to forget him at all times? 

"How are you feeling?" Leigh-Anne wondered. Her voice was soft and Jade automatically knew what she was referring to, better yet, who she was referring to.

Jade shrugged again. "I'm as okay as I'm going to be."

Leigh-Anne wanted to sigh out of frustration. It might've been too late already.

"Don't shut me out, Jade," she told  her and rubbed Jade's arm. "I think you need to talk about it."

"I don't want to."

"There's a lot of things we don't want to do, but we need to do it anyways if we're going to get anywhere..."

Jade furrowed her brows deeply. "And what would talking about it solve, Leigh-Anne?" she snapped. "Talking about it won't get me anywhere. Talking about it won't make Liam change his mind. Talking about it is why he changed his mind! It's why I feel like this in the first place!"

Leigh-Anne pursed her lips and told herself she needed to work on her patience. She wasn't upset with Jade, but the way she was behaving. Liam wasn't wrong for choosing to not continuing their whatever-ship. If he wasn't ready, he wasn't ready. No one should be pressured into a relationship.

Jade tried too hard to force her feelings on guys thinking that they felt the same way when they didn't. She didn't have a system on how to deal with different types of men when her experience was so limited. That's where Leigh-Anne, Jesy, and Perrie usually came in and tried to help, telling her that he was this kind of guy and needed to be handled this way. 

Liam wasn't a bad guy, and he was probably feeling as bad as Jade was somewhere. Liam cared about her. If he didn't, his face wouldn't have looked so disappointed last night when he was leaving. Whatever happened, whatever was said between them, did effect him even if Jade refused to believe it. He didn't leave the back room with a smile and skipping, he left looking like he was leaving a funeral.

"If Liam doesn't want to be with me, fine," Jade said stubbornly.

"No, it's not fine. If you honestly felt fine, you wouldn't want to drink yourself into a stupor again. It's okay to admit that you want to be with Liam. It's okay to say you miss him. But it's not okay to sit in denial and start torturing yourself over this," Leigh-Anne said and then frowned. "You could always call him and say that you do want a relationship, but you're willing to work something out until he's ready."

When Jade huffed and sucked her teeth, Leigh-Anne knew there was no point in talking about it anymore. Jade had already shut down and would proceed to act like a bitter teenage girl about the situation until she got over it. ...And who knew how long that would take?

"Well if you're going to act that way about Liam, you could at least try talking to another guy to get your mind off of him," Leigh-Anne advised. "Like that young boy you were talking to, he was cute."

"He's too young."

"So? 18 and up, right?" Leigh-Anne tried joking, elbowing Jade with a grin that she didn't return.

_x

"That is the stupidest thing I've heard from you about her yet," Danny said with a disapproving shake of his head. "I wish we could skip all of this dating nonsense and go straight to the wedding."

Zayn felt his cheeks fill with heat and bit his lip. "I think she'll like it," Zayn mumbled, straightening the piece of art that Danny had purposely tilted just to be annoying and watch Zayn fix it again.

"Of course she'll like the wedding." 

Danny snickered to himself and crossed his arms. Teasing his best friend about Leigh-Anne was a great way to kill time when business was slow; there were two people who were browsing and said they didn't need any help.

Zayn sighed. 

"The date, Danny. The date." Zayn felt his lips curling into a smile. He couldn't believe that she agreed to a date with him, and every time he thought about it –which was just about all the time– his heart would begin to speed up. She said yes.

"What girl wants to get sweaty on the first date? Especially if you're not gonna, you know..." Danny made a few finger banging gestures and mock moans. 

Zayn covered his face and turned from his friend, checking to see if the costumers had seen or heard him. They continued on, undisturbed and interested in some acrylic paint. 

"I should fire you," Zayn threatened.

"But you won't." Danny chuckled and grinned. "So sex on the first date or..." He left the question open because even though Zayn didn't paint Leigh-Anne to be that sort of girl, he wouldn't really know. 

"Danny..."

"What?" Danny frowned. "It's a legit question! What if she's expecting it?"

Zayn forgot to take in a breath to laugh at the thought of it and just wheezed for a moment. "She can't have it," he answered.

"Even if she wants it?" Danny was lost. "We are talking about Leigh-anne, right? The same one with the ass like—" 

"Yes," Zayn cut in, aggressively pointing towards the customers so Danny would know to stop and use more appropriate language. "Her."

"And you're gonna deny that, her, with the cake made from scratch? I'm judging you," Danny told him honestly. 

"Because I care," Zayn admitted. He cared a lot. Probably too much. And he wasn't going to allow himself to think with the smaller one of of his two heads. "She's not even like that, and...and it'll be awkward afterwards. What if she ends up regretting it?"

"Don't let her regret it," Danny said immediately. "Put it on her so good that she won't even think about whatshisface anymore."

Zayn grimaced. Danny was obviously talking about Harry. Zayn told him about what happened when he had left out of her house that morning. He could tell that Harry didn't like him and he wasn't sure if he liked that he could hit a nerve with him, or if it was bad because Harry was still Leigh-Anne's friend. A friend that she has a lot of feelings for that are being reciprocated but they aren't together.

It would be easier if she would stop being friends with Harry. Zayn knew that wouldn't happen and he'd have to wait it out, but he was a master at being patient, and being patient was finally paying off. He only needed to wait a little longer before everything fell into place.

"Danny, listen, she's-"

His friend sighed and rolled his eyes. "I know, Z, I know. She's special."

"Alright." Zayn nodded. "So what's wrong with waiting a little while longer?"

Danny shook his head. "Nothing." He patted Zayn on the back when one of the customers waved him over. 

"Just don't play yourself," he warned, leaving to attend to them.

Zayn watched him go. He confided in Danny because he had more experience in the dating world and they'd been friends forever. And Danny, though he was a fool, always seemed to know what he was talking about.

"Play myself?" Zayn whispered, and frowned, his eyebrows knitting. If Danny thought it was something serious he would say everything that was on his mind. Danny was weird like that sometimes so he wouldn't dwell on it. Zayn pushed the thought of what Danny could be saying to the side, he had to go see Kieron in two hours.

_x

"Girls, I have an announcement!" Jesy bellowed excitedly as she walked into Little Mix and shut the door. She shook out her hands and tugged off her wet beanie.

"Is the announcement that you're pregnant? Because as much as you and Niall seem to fuck, it wouldn't be a surprise," Perrie replied, sweeping a corner.

"Perrie, just stop, okay?" Jesy groaned. "Just because you're the only one here who isn't getting laid doesn't mean you have to be a bitch about it. My announcement actually benefits you, so I think you should just shut the fuck up and listen," Jesy said calmly. "Can ya do that? Can you shut up for a minute?"

Perrie was caught off guard by how calm Jesy's tone with her was. Leigh-Anne had snarled at her when she made a smart remark about the way Leigh-Anne was limping into the place and trying to hide it.

"Where's Leigh and Jade? In the back?" Jesy asked, noticing half of their crew was missing. She wanted all of them to be there, not just Perrie.

"Leigh's in the basement and Jade's running late," the blonde answered, sweeping the collected dirt into the dustpan. 

"Wait, Jade's gonna be late?" Jesy asked.

"Yeah." Perrie bobbed her head, opening the garbage and disposing of the dirt. "She called me, like, 10 minutes ago and said she'd be late."

"Jade 'Never Late' Thirwall, is going to be late?" Jesy gasped. "For the first time ever?" She gasped again. "Did she say why she was gonna be late? Is she okay?"

Perrie shrugged. "She seemed okay to me."

"What the heck is happening to the world?" Jesy whispered to herself and walked into the back room to put away her things. Jade was usually the one who opened every day and she was late?

"Of course I do," Leigh-Anne mumbled into the phone and checked her screen again when it beeped in her ear indicating a new text.

Jesy looked up and had almost greeted her until Leigh-Anne went on.

"I can't...you know I can't." Leigh-Anne sighed and covered her face with her hand in frustration. She was getting tired of repeating herself.

There was a pause and Jesy purposely made a noise so Leigh-Anne would turn around. Leigh-Anne jumped a little, being too absorbed in her conversation and gave Jesy a halfhearted wave. The oldest raised her eyebrow after seeing a frown on her friends lips, silently asking if Leigh-Anne was alright, Jesy had no problem smacking a hoe if she had to. Sometimes hoes just needed to be smacked.

Leigh-Anne shook her head and waved Jesy off. She was fine, just a bit sore, stressed and annoyed, nothing Jesy needed to concern herself with.

"Whenever you're done, I've got an announcement to make." Jesy smiled and quickly put her things away and left the back room.

"Okay! Okay! I'm here!" Jade yelled as she burst through the door. "I'm sorry!"

Jesy looked at her and Perrie stopped sweeping to do the same.

"The hell are you wearing?" Jesy asked, scanning her friend up and down and disliking her entire wardrobe under her open coat.

Perrie cackled and dropped the broom to hold her stomach. "Did you get dressed in the dark?" 

"What? No! I like this!" Jade said defending her outfit, pulling on the dull sweater and baggy jeans.

"Do you? Because it looks like -"

"You made it! Are you okay?" Leigh-Anne cut in, giving Jesy a sharp look and giving Jade a side hug when she exited the backroom. "I knew I should've had Harry pick you up and bring you when we left out," she said scolding herself.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Leigh." Jade gave her a questionable look. Why wouldn't she be fine? 

"Well, since we're all here, I have an announcement!" Jesy squealed and clapped her hands. "I'm -"

"Pregnant! Jesy's pregnant and Niall's the father!" Perrie interrupted and snickered to herself when Jade gasped.

Jesy gave Perrie a glare and pushed her roughly into the counter, pleased with herself when Perrie emitted a loud, "Ow, fuck you, Jesy!" She had already told the blonde that her being pregnant wasn't the case, and if it wasn't funny the first time she said it, why would it be funny the second time?

"No, I'm not pregnant," she said to calm Jade down who looked like she was going to pass out. "But I am very pleased to announce that Louis "The Tommo" Tomlinson will finally grace us with his presence." 

This time three gasped were heard and three jaws had dropped.

"No way.." Leigh-Anne whispered.

"Yes, way." Jesy had a smile on her face and gave a confident nod.

"Niall's friend Louis?" Jade asked. "The Louis he's always talking about?"

"The very same one," Jesy confirmed. Her smile had made its way into a smirk when she turned to Perrie. "And he's very excited to meet you."

"Me?" Perrie wondered, pointing to herself. "Or us?" She pointed to each of them and then herself again.

"Well, he's excited about metting you you." Jesy hollered when Perrie's normally pale complexion slowly turned red after she'd winked at the blonde.

"Why me? I haven't done anything!" 

"Niall thought it was a good time to finally bring him around." Jesy shrugged and looked at Leigh-Anne and Jade. "He wants me to finally meet him and Niall's been telling Louis about you, Perrie."

Perrie looked down at her clothes, as did Leigh-Anne and Jade and they all shook their heads slowly regretting their choice in wardrobe. 

"We have clothes in the back right?" Jade asked, starting to panic.

Jesy chuckled. "Thought you liked what you were wearing?"

"I do! But this isn't a first impression outfit," Jade said defending herself.

"Don't worry, Louis' only here to meet me...and Perrie." 

"I don't care, I still have to change," Jade said and rushed to the back room to find something to wear.

"Why didn't you text me about this?!" Perrie asked and huffed, she was internally panicking. She wasn't prepared for last minute things like this; Perrie needed time. If she would've been notified in advance she wouldn't be considering driving home to change her outfit and actually putting effort into doing her makeup to improve her overall appearance. She was sure there was a tube of mascara and some curlers around her somewhere. Jesy always kept curlers somewhere and Jade normally had some mascara and eyeliner in their bathroom.

"I mean," Perrie said and cleared her throat, telling herself to relax and be cool. "It's not like I care that he's coming or anything. It'll be nice to see that your faux blonde actually has a friend to talk to that isn't an beer bottle... But you could've said something instead of surprising us." 

Leigh-Anne grinned hearing Perrie's words. It was just like her to try and act like she isn't fazed and to pretend to be cool about the situation. Perrie was too much of a control freak to not have this drive her crazy.

Jesy snorted.

"Whatever." She watched Perrie slowly slip into the back with Jade from the corner of her eye when she turned to Leigh-Anne and asked, "What's up with Zayn?"

Leigh-Anne shrugged. "I haven't talked to him since the other day. I invited him over and we talked."

Jesy didn't bother to hide her surprise and pulled her friend closer. 

"Invited him over? When? Because he came the night Perrie and I...yeah," she trailed off awkwardly. "But I told him you weren't coming in. Everyone knows he only comes to see you so I didn't want him wasting his time waiting for you to show up." 

"Yeah, he called me to see if I was okay and I invited him over. We talked and uh..." Leigh-Anne looked at the door to the back room to make sure Perrie wouldn't come bursting through it. "We sorta cuddled on my couch, made a date, and fell asleep," Leigh-Anne blurted out.

"You did what?!" Jesy asked loudly. 

Leigh-Anne shushed the older woman and lightly slapped her arm. "Shut up! Perrie can't know, okay?"

"Okay, okay...Does Harry know? I thought Harry wouldn't let you talk to other guys?"

Leigh-Anne scoffed and rolled her eyes, she rolled them so hard they hurt for a second. 

Harry had been annoying today, more annoying than usual. When Jade called her this morning and asked her to come over, Leigh-Anne didn't have any other choice but to ask Harry to take her to aid her friend. He acquiesced, but only after stalling her with plenty of kisses and cuddling. That long haired bastard didn't want to let her go anywhere, he made that clear when he picked her up last night. But Leigh-Anne didn't mind it too much, it meant that Harry wouldn't leave her.

She knew she hurt him yesterday when she said she didn't know why they were still friends. It was all over his face. If she didn't know him so well she would've thought he was just angry. No, he was hurt. Hurt in a way she never wanted to hurt him and never should've dared to hurt him in the first place. She loved Harry and Leigh-Anne knew she would always love Harry. No matter what he did, no matter how much she said she hated him, she had never loved anyone the way she loved him. 

They're each others poison and stuck in this vicious cycle. It had to stop. But the only way for it to stop meant they couldn't be friends at all, and neither of them would allow that.

For the next few days or maybe weeks, they'll be fine. Harry would be as sweet as pie, annoying, (but he was always annoying) eagerly compliant, affectionate, and sexual as all hell. During this time Harry would act like her lovesick boyfriend with sepratation issues... It had to stop. 

He couldn't keep his hands off of her when he picked her up from Jade's. Leigh-Anne was surprised that he hadn't pulled the car over and bestowed upon her a very nice mouth present. He was saving it for later, though, because as soon as she locked her front door he had her trapped against it, his mouth on her neck, one hand rubbing on her butt and the other unbuttoning her pants. If she wasn't so frustrated with Jade she would've told him to cut it out and keep it in his pants, but she knew he'd whine and complain because he wanted to show his love for her again right before Jade had called.

"No, Harry doesn't know and he's not going to know," Leigh-Anne answered. "Harry already hates him for no reason, I don't need him attacking Zayn out of jealously."

_x

Every five minutes Perrie was running her hands through her hair. The blonde was rarely nervous, but that was when she was prepared. She did as best as she could with the curlers and makeup she found in the back, thinking she did a decent job at looking natural and not expecting and overdone. Perrie didn't want to look like she had primped for hours, she wanted to look and seem nonchalant and effortlessly attractive. 

Jesy and Leigh-Anne found themselves laughing at her and reminding her that none of them knew what Louis looked like, he could look decent, he could look terrible. Louis finally showing his face didn't mean Perrie was getting an automatic date with him, he was there to meet Jesy; Perrie was more of an extra thing. Louis was only there to meet the woman Niall talked on about all the time and risked his safety for at work. It was too bad their words had fallen on deaf ears, though. Perrie couldn't keep herself together long enough to focus on her customers and repeatedly bumped into Jade who was starting to get angry. 

Jade didn't give two hoots about Louis, she just wanted to look presentable just in case Louis maybe had a friend or something. But Perrie stepping on her toes again and again, and elbowing her was really starting to work her nerves. Leigh-Anne lightly tapped her should once when she noticed the irritated look on her face that was aimed towards Perrie. Jade gave her a tight-lipped smile and tried telling herself that she was the same way when a certain insensitive basta— 'Let it go,' she reminded herself. There wasn't anything she could do.

"Is that him?" Perrie panicked and grabbed Jesy's arms on shook it when a guy walked through the door. "Did that drunk say what color he'd be wearing? Or when they were coming? Were they coming together?"

"Perrie, chill out!" Jesy snapped, batting the blondes hands from her. "Niall only said that they were coming. I'm assuming they'll be here at his regular time. Calm down!"

"I've been calm! I'm just impatient right now, they've got me wasting my time waiting for them to show up!" she argued. Her hand reaching up and running through her hair for the umpteenth time when the door opened.

Jesy snorted. "How is it wasting your time when you'd be here working anyways?"

Perrie opened her mouth to reply and closed it back. "Touché," she mumbled before tending to a customer who'd taken to slapping a heavy hand on the counter in front of Perrie to get her attention.

Leigh-Anne sighed and silently prayed that Niall and Louis would show up soon...and that Harry would stop texting her. He knew she was working and normally didn't text back when she was on the clock. Obviously it wasn't anything important, if it had been he would've called, this was just him being clingy. 

She mixed a drink for two customers before turning her back towards the counter and taking out her phone. If it vibrated in her pocket again one more time she was going to strangle Harry when he picked her up this morning; she was so thankful it was Jesy's turn to close, she really needed to get her sleep together. Her eyes skimmed through the texts and as expected, there wasn't anything worth replying to right away. Her fingers typed out a short message about calling Harry when she got off and in the middle of it she saw that she'd gotten another text.

"Turn around"? she muttered to herself and did as the text said to see Zayn sitting in his spot with a faint smirk on his face, his phone in his hand.

"Hey," he greeted. 

Leigh-Anne rolled her eyes at his corniness and smiled excitedly at him. She hadn't seen him since that night on her couch and hadn't talked to him since he texted her about hoping she slept okay that morning. 

"Zayn! Hey, you shaved your hair! It looks awesome," she complimented, taking in how smooth his hair looked slicked back and tied up into a bun.

"Thanks. I thought I could use something different, my hair was getting a bit long." Zayn laughed awkwardly and scratched a shaved part of his head.

"What do you call it? It's not really a mohawk or a man bun."

Zayn smiled at the counter. His cousins and friends were the ones who convinced him to get it and he figured 'why not?' It was just a hair style and his hair would grow back if he didn't like it.

"A topknot," he answered looking up at her and put his hand on the knot. "I'm in a gang now. Topknot Crew!" He threw up a hand sign. "Westside!"

Leigh-Anne paused before laughing and quickly grabbing his hand and putting it down. 

"Honey, no. Let's not do this in here," she warned lightly, looking over his shoulder at some customers she'd rather not see come to the counter to start something over a joke. 

She patted his hand and placed a cup for his drink filled with three ice cubes infront of him and grabbed the whiskey bottle.

"In a gang my ass." She snorted. Zayn came right before Jade if they were on a roster for a gang. Maybe a few names before if he played it up being the quiet guy who could spazz out any moment so you always had to keep an eye out for him. Either way, Zayn wasn't gang material. Not at all. She snorted again, she couldn't believe he said "gang."

"It suits you, though. It's innovative, I love it." She grinned at him and moved to service another customer.

Zayn bit his lip to stop himself from smiling and possibly blushing. He had to ask himself if it was because she touched him and he had been craving her touch since he left her house, or if it was her calling him, "Honey," that was making his nervousness multiply. Kieron was right about the hairstyle. Everyone he came across today really liked it, the topknot had his confidence level a little higher than normal, and hearing Leigh-Anne say that she loves it made it all worthwhile. Even if it was going to make him jittery.

"Thanks."

"Can I touch it?" she asked when she turned back to him, ignoring the sound of their door opening.

"Touch what?"

"Your knot?" 

"Um..yeah, I guess." Zayn bent his head down to offer it and felt her hand tentatively stoke his hair until it hit the bun. He felt her squish it between her fingers and poking it.

"Wow. It's thicker than I thought," she muttered after her hands-on observation. His hair was softer than she thought, too. It always had a soft look and shine to it, but she never thought about actually touching it until now. Probably because things were a little different between them and slowly changing.

Zayn chuckled. Oh, how he wanted to drop the, 'That's what she said,' joke on her because he knew how lame it was.

He just might've done it if he hadn't  felt someone rudely knocking into his shoulder while taking a seat beside him without an apology.

Leigh-Anne groaned. Annoyed beyond belief. She didn't need this right now. 

"Harry, apologize!" she scolded, pointing at Zayn. 

Zayn turned his head slightly to see Harry out of the corner of his eye sitting beside him and knew instantly that he wouldn't be speaking or smiling for the rest of the night. He didn't dislike Harry, though he knew the guy should be treating Leigh-Anne better, he just hadn't found a reason to like him yet or even try to.

Harry swiveled his chair to face Zayn and smirked. "Oops. My bad," he said unapologetically. 

Perfect. Just perfect. Harry and Zayn sitting right next to each other and right infront of her. Tonight was going to turn into one of the longest services of her life.

"Harry, I swear to God.." Leigh-Anne warned, giving him a look and pointing her finger at him. 

He gave her a cheeky grin and held up his hands in surrender. "I'll be good! I'll be good!"

He was such a lair. She didn't believe him. Harry's definition of "good" wasn't her definition of "good." 

The door opened again and Perrie full on freaked out, grabbing Jade and shaking her. 

"I can't take it anymore!" she yelled in the brunettes face. 

Jade didn't say anything, her blank stare said enough and Perrie released her, straightened Jade's outfit as a "sorry" and pulled on her hair in frustration before going over to Leigh-Anne's side again. Someone had to try and comfort her anxiety about the situation and if anyone would, it would be Leigh-Anne. 

Some guy Jesy didn't recognize dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans took a seat and didn't give her an order for a drink. She shrugged it off and told him politely, "Hey, don't sit there, move over a seat."

The man looked at her, his thin eyebrows shooting up in surprise into his messy fringe before moving over one seat. 

"Can I get ya something? A beer?" she asked.

He shook his head 'no' and propped his elbow on the counter, leaning his head into his hand, positioned to stare at the door. He sighed loudly and rolled his eyes, glancing back at Jesy for a second.

"Okay, well, I'm Jesy. Call me if you need anything," she said, turning to another customer who appeared. 

He gave her a nod and looked at each of the bartenders and how they were handling customers. Nice looking group of ladies, dressed decently, polite enough, they seemed to know what they were doing...except the blonde one. She looked like she was in distress talking to the woman with the fluffy hair and pulling on her arm. The more he watched her the more annoyed he became with her. Couldn't she see that she was in the other girls way? She was the only one who wasn't working but her mouth was going 100 miles per hour and he couldn't understand a word she was saying. That was probably a good thing, though. He doubted she had anything important to say.

When Niall finally entered 10 minutes later Jesy smiled at him, she even gave him a welcoming wave before he took a seat.

"Hey," she said being the first to speak and leaning over the counter to give Niall's pale cheek a kiss. 

"You're in a good mood," he joked, but he was pleasantly surprised. "I wonder why?" Niall teased.

"Me too," she played along. "It couldn't have been because of this morning. This morning was so terrible!"

Niall put a hand to his heart. "I tried really hard this mornin'!"

She smirked. "Not hard enough."

"I can make it up to ya tonight," he promised, winking at her.

And before Niall got the chance to tell Jesy all of the naughty things he'd love to do to her back at her place, the man beside him cleared his throat.

"Did you want something?" she asked, irked at him for interrupting Niall because she really wanted to hear what he had to say.

"Oh! Jes, this is Louis," Niall introduced, patting his friend on the back and he scoffed. "Lou, this is Jesy."

"Don't touch me," Louis said with a straight face and pushed Niall. "Jesy and I already met because it took you over 10 minutes to find a parking spot. I thought you had reserved parking?"

The Irishmen laughed. You'd think after three years of coming practically every night that he would have a parking spot to call his own. Actually, he'd bet that his attendance was better than all of the girls' except probably Leigh-Anne's. She was always there, just always, her no-show had him worried.

"Well, I'm working on that, aren't I?" Niall asked back, nudging his head towards Jesy who stood there confused. "Don't be rude, say 'hi,' Louis."

"Hi, Jesy," Louis said giving her a smile, then he turned back to Niall, his smile gone. "Can we go now?"

"Aw, quit yer whining Louis! This is why I never take you anywhere," Niall replied playfully. "Ignore his crabbiness. He's just upset because a customer said he—"

"Why would you want to tell her that?" Louis interrupted quickly. 

"Because it was hilarious?" Niall asked rhetorically. "I'll tell you later," he whispered to Jesy who still hadn't said a word.

Louis "The Tommo" Tomlinson had been sitting right infront of her for 15 minutes and hadn't said a word. Perrie was bugging Leigh-Anne about him not being there and there he was...right there.

Jesy blinked hard and rubbed her eyes, being careful so she didn't smudge her makeup, and stared at him. 

"Perhaps I should tell Jesy how you described her to me, hmm?" Louis wondered, grinning devilishly. Yeah, he knew exactly who Jesy was when he reached the bar counter. Niall's description of her was pretty spot on, he didn't miss a detail about her except the shade of lipstick Jesy had chose to wear tonight; Niall said nude and Jesy picked red.

"Why? Why would you wanna go there, Louis?" Niall asked back.

Louis shrugged. "Because it was hilarious?" He laughed and Niall groaned. "Jesy? Have you noticed that your chest looks like a watermelon trapped under your shirt?"

Niall groaned again mumbling something to himself as he covered his face. He was drunk when Louis asked what Jesy looked like and Louis knew it, plus he was hungry. Jesy and food made sense, they made even more sense he when put them together. And it didn't help when Niall used food as an analogy for any and everything, Louis knew this and was using it again him. 

He was such a dick.

Jesy twitched. "Niall?" 

"Yes, Jesy?" He looked at her through his fingers. Niall was waiting for a violent outburst and no nookie tonight.  

"Thank you, Niall, watermelons are delicious. But get your friend and get him now," she told him sweetly. Her smile was as fake as it could be, her eyelashes batting rapidly. Louis just might be worth a suspension if he kept it up and she could use a few days off, he shouldn't tempt her.

Niall pulled Louis to him and whispered, "C'mon, I need the two of yous to be okay," into the older mans ear. "I didn't invite you to come and fuck this up, Louis!"

Louis scoffed and pushed Niall away from him. Couldn't Niall see that he was already pissed? Did he really think he cared about some girl he was hooking up with and was growing an obsession for?

"Yeah, got it. I'm sorry, Jesy. Bad joke... So which one is Perrie?" Louis questioned. Maybe that would be better. He was hoping it was the petite brunette. She was sort of quiet and he had this thing for corrupting the quiet ones.

"Oh, that one." Jesy pointed her out and Louis frowned.

"The blonde?" He was dumbfounded. Why did life hate him? Why couldn't the brunette be Perrie? Or the one with the fluffy hair? It just had to be the unproductive, blabbering blonde.

Jesy went over to Perrie and grabbed her arm, getting a complaint about her grip being too tight when she pulled her over. "Yeah, the blonde one. Perrie, this is Louis," she introduced, waiting for the exchange.

"Louis, this is Perrie," Niall added.

Perrie looked at Louis and took him in. Louis did the same now that she was closer.

'Well, he's not too bad,' Perrie thought. 'We've gotta do something about that hair, though. It makes him look homeless.'

"Nice to meet you," she said, sticking her hand out for Louis to take. 

Louis continued to stared at her. He could lie and say that her eyes weren't one of the prettiest hues of blue he'd ever seen, but he wouldn't. He wasn't interested.

He swiveled his chair and looked at Niall, leaving Perrie's hand in the air until she awkwardly brought it back to her body.

"You really brought me all the way here for that?" Louis asked, nodding his head towards her. "You must be shitting me, Niall."

It was strange. Louis hadn't said it very loudly but all four bartenders had heard him and reacted.

Jade dropped a glass and gaped at him. 

Leigh-Anne gasped and told Harry to hold on one second.

Jesy was snickering before telling Niall, "This was such a bad idea." 

Niall agreed.

"The fuck did you just say you piece of shit?!"

____xx


	6. 6

He hissed and immediately flinched away from her touch. It burned. 

"I'm sorry," she muttered for the fifth time. She leaned away from him, examined the bruise and gash, and then grimaced to herself. Atleast the bleeding slowed down some. "You didn't have to get involved. We had it under control." Something she had also said a few times.

"I know." 

"Patrons shouldn't get involved," Leigh-Anne scolded lightly. She sighed and placed the stinging antiseptic soaked cloth back on his brow. "That's what we have security for. And Jesy."

"I know," he repeated. 

She tossed him a comforting smile. "But it was still very gallant of you, Zayn, and I appreciate it."

He grinned back and didn't reply.

Then a throat was cleared loudly beside them.

"Can I be gallant, too?" he asked rudely. "Considering the fact that I was the one actually defending you? I don't see why he gets medical attention first."

Leigh-Anne huffed in irritation. Her fingers gripped the rag tighter and she applied more pressure on Zayn's busted brow.

"Stop complaining, Harry!" she snapped. "Just go and put something cold on your eye!"

Leigh-Anne had had it up to here with Harry's attitude. She wasn't expecting things to get out of hand the way they did. She wasn't expecting anyone to get hurt. She had to report this and it wouldn't make Tulsa happy. 

Not at all.

"Why don't you put something cold on my eye and let him hold the rag to his face?" Harry retorted. "I didn't see him jumping in that guys face when he called you a Bitch."

"Maybe because I can handle people calling me names?" she replied to him and rolled her eyes. There were so many drunks in and out of the bar that name calling wasn't anything to get angry about when it happened all the time.

"You shouldn't have to!" Harry argued. Angrily, he got up from his stool, knocking it over in the process and headed towards the door. Clearly Leigh-Anne couldn't see this from his point of view with that Shitface blocking her from it.

"Where are you going?" she yelled at him before he reached it.

"Home!" Harry slammed the door behind him and stormed off to his car.

Home had to mean her house and that meant he would want to argue when she got there.

"I swear he raises my blood pressure," Leigh-Anne muttered to herself before pinching the bridge of her nose in a feeble attempt to calm herself down. Only Harry could make her so upset that she could feel her nose getting ready to bleed.

"You should go after him," was suggested.

"No, he needs to go."

"I think you should go after him."

"Zayn, I don't want to go after him!" It was exactly what Harry wanted and she was tired of chasing after him. Leigh-Anne was sick of having to prove to him that she cared when he already knew that she did. Just because she was making sure Zayn was okay first didn't mean that she didn't care about Harry. Zayn was bleeding for fucks sake! "I think this cut on your face is more important than him throwing a temper tantrum. Don't you agree?"

Of course he agreed, but Zayn stayed silent and looked past Leigh-Anne's body to see Jade talking to Perrie. He couldn't make out what she was saying to the blonde but her arms were flailing around for a second and then crossing over her chest the next. Perrie closed her eyes and turned her face up and away from Jade and in his and Leigh-Anne's direction. When her eyes did open they landed on him, he held her gaze until Leigh-Anne pulled on his ear, playfully stealing it.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" she asked softly. 

"Yeah. It's not that bad," he answered. It hurt like shit, though, and he had a throbbing headache.

"I think you need stitches." Leigh-Anne leaned in closer to his face to examine it. The gash looked deep enough for stitches and she didn't want to take any chances.

Oh, Tulsa was going to be pissed.

"Naa," Zayn replied. He hated going to hospitals, he would be fine. The only thing that was worrying him right now was how close Leigh-Anne was.

"Are they looking over here?" she whispered. She didn't expect much privacy with Jade and Perrie in the same room; Jesy could be heard yelling at Niall over the phone in the back. 

Zayn checked and they were heatedly, but somehow still very quietly, arguing now. Perrie had turned back to Jade and was waving her finger in the brunettes face in a condescending way. The expression on Jade's face was one of complete disbelief.

"No," he told her, and immediately felt her lips gently pressed to the corner of his eye and froze. All of his muscles locked up on the spot and he felt like he couldn't breathe. 

"Relax," she mumbled, peppering kisses around his eye and down his cheekbone affectionately. "I'm really sorry about this, Zayn. Really sorry."

Leigh-Anne felt responsible for Zayn getting hurt, Harry, too, but Harry wasn't the one bleeding. Zayn was only trying to break it up and he got hurt, the guilt of knowing he most likely would've left the situation alone if it hadn't been for their budding possible romance was weighing heavily on her conscience. But blessed are the peacemakers...even if they get fucked up in the process. 

Zayn was so glad Harry left and she didn't run after him. He was beaming so brightly on the inside that he could feel his lips twitching into a smile. In fact, he did smile when she licked the corner of his lips. Zayn half expected her to lick her way into his mouth for a kiss, but he knew that would really be pushing it. He was perfectly fine with this much from her. 

Foolishly she grinned and kissed her way to his ear, she loved that her hair was fluffed out enough to hide both of their smiling faces. Leigh-Anne nibbled down his jaw and she noticed how Zayn lightly gripped onto his seat.

"Are we still in the clear?" she whispered, bringing her lips closer to his own. 

"Perrie's looking," he reported, watching the blonde stomp her feet and turn away from Jade again; she had a serious attitude problem.

Leigh-Anne hummed and kissed his cheek before pulling away and dabbing the cut to make him wince again.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" she asked one last time. Even if the cut wasn't as bad as she thought, it wouldn't hurt to have a professional look at it and make the call.

"Positive. I'll be alright," he promised, shifting in his seat. He needed to go home, she was making him stir and he didn't need that to happen right now. Now would be the worst possible time.

"If you say so." Leigh-Anne shrugged and told Zayn to hold the rag to his face for awhile because she needed to talk to Jesy.

When she opened the door to the back room Jesy was seated on the couch quietly for only a second before she was back to swearing into the phone.

"Niall, I don't fucking care!" she shouted.

Nothing went the way Jesy had expected. 

When it started she and Niall found it pretty amusing to watch someone other than herself give Perrie a run for her money. Louis and Perrie went back and forth for a good amount of time, both getting quicker and quicker with their comebacks, sharper with each dig they took at each other until Louis said something out of line and Leigh-Anne interjected. They didn't go back and forth, they didn't have the time to before Harry jumped in to defend Leigh-Anne and started arguing with Louis himself.

Jesy enjoyed that bit, too. Watching Harry finally be of use for Leigh-Anne besides sex brought a smile to her face. Harry had gotten up and stepped towards Louis telling him that he needed to shut his mouth, Louis got up too, telling Harry that he needed to piss off. Harry stood over Louis, looking down at him, and Louis, the pour soul, had to stand on his toes just to reach eye level with Harry. 

Jesy couldn't quite recall what Harry had said that made Louis grab the neck of a random beer bottle on the counter but it happened so fast, and the only thing that happened faster than that, was Zayn wedging himself between the two of them and taking that bottle to the face.

All hell broke lose.

Jade screamed at the top of her lungs. Perrie had a hand over her mouth trying to hold in her gasp. Leigh-Anne was shocked and looked like she was about to cry as she vaulted over the counter to see if Zayn was alright. Jesy had fisted Niall's shirt and started shaking him violently while asking what was wrong with his friend. Harry grabbed Louis and punched him. Louis punched back.

Customers were gasping and screaming, some were rushing out the doors in a panic, others had started forming a circle to see what would happen next.

Harry and Louis both threw a good amount of punches before Dex finally broke things up and tossed Louis out the bar. When Niall complained about how roughly Dex had handled his friend he too, was thrown out of Little Mix.

"Did you see what he did to Zayn's face?" she asked Niall and looked at Leigh-Anne with worried eyes. Jesy muted the call and put Niall on speaker. "How is he? Is he gonna sue??"

Leigh-Anne didn't think he would, but Zayn could if he wanted to. They didn't need that headache and Tulsa was still pissy.

"He said he's okay and doesn't want to go to the hospital, but I think he needs stitches," Leigh-Anne told Jesy. She shook her head. She should've called Dex as soon as Louis and Perrie started going at it but she didn't think that things would escalate so quickly or take a voilent turn.

"Make him go the hospital, Leigh," Jesy told her and unmuted Niall. "Zayn could have Louis arrested for assault. Zayn could sue us. What part of that don't you understand?!"

Leigh-Anne scowled. "How, Jesy? How? I keep telling him to go and he keeps refusing."

Jesy gave her a look and Leigh-Anne stared back expecting an answer. Jesy muted the phone again.

"Do I really have to explain it it you?"

_x

Harry slammed the door and threw his coat on the couch. He kicked off his boots and yelled, "Fuuuuuuck!"

He was pissed. 

How could Leigh-Anne choose Zayn over him? He was the one who had jumped in that guys face to defend her name, not Zayn. He was the one who went blow for blow with that guy, not Zayn. He should've been the one getting her attention during the aftermath, not Zayn.

Harry sighed deeply to himself and ran his large hand down his face.

Okay, Harry could admit that Zayn's brow was split open and it did look pretty bad, but he had had it under control. And not that he wanted to, but he could've taken that bottle to the face, he probably would've caught it or snatched it from Louis. (In hindsight, Leigh-Anne would've been coddling him if he had gotten hit.) But nevermind all of that, the point was that there was no need for Zayn to insert himself where he didn't belong.

And that included Leigh-Anne's life.

Harry balled his hands into tight fists. No, Zayn didn't seem like a bad guy, but he was getting in the way of him and Leigh-Anne, so that meant he needed to go, and the sooner he disappeared, the better.

"This is some bullshit," he muttered to himself, trying to force himself to relax. He reached for his phone in his pocket knowing exactly what would help him to just that.

-x

Perrie was impossible.

Jade had tried for 30 minutes trying to convince Perrie that her behavior was unprofessional. Yes, Louis was out of line but that didn't mean that Perrie should've lost her composure the way that she had. Perrie was one second away from jumping over the counter before Leigh-Anne intervened with a, "Cut it out."

Perrie didn't care. She had felt too disrespected by Louis and continued to argue with him. 

Leigh-Anne interrupted their argument again telling Louis to either apologize or leave, he was annoying them and the other customers. 

"Now there's this Bitch. Why'd you bring me here?" he had turned to Niall and asked.

And that set Harry off. 

There was no way that anyone was going to call Leigh-Anne a Bitch in front of him and get away with it.

And it all spiraled downhill from there.

"If you would've just listened when Leigh told you to stop we probably wouldn't be in this mess," Jade told Perrie and received a scoff. "Don't scoff at me, Perrie! Tulsa was already upset with us this week, the last thing we needed to do was have a fight in here because you wanted to keep arguing with him and have the last word."

"Well, he shouldn't have started it!" Perrie replied heatedly and crossed her arms back over her chest. Louis should've been honored that she had even looked his way, or that she had even thought about looking his way, he wasn't much to look at in the first place. "The Tommo" Niall had been hyping up all of this time was an asshole. How those two stayed friends for so long was a mystery to her, Niall was a decent guy and he shouldn't being hanging around such trash.

_x

Leigh-Anne gently placed her hand on Zayn's bouncing knee and gave it a firm squeeze. Zayn stilled his leg and gave her a shy smile.

"Anxious?" she asked, her eyes darting to the receptionist as she talked to a visitor in the E.R. waiting room. There weren't alot of people but it seemed like the staff was taking their time processing them; they'd been waiting for 45 minutes already.

"I.." Zayn let out a broken and breathless chuckle. "I really hate hospitals. Like, really, really," he told her honestly, his words slurring together in a way that was cute but had Leigh-Anne worried. Time was always an important factor when it came to injuries and it took her an hour to convince him to see a doctor.

Zayn had given her permission to drive his car to the hospital with the promise of staying with him. He could check himself in, but he didn't want to sit their by himself especially when he didn't want to go in the first place.

It wasn't so bad this time, though. Leigh-Anne had made sure their hands stayed intertwined the whole time, and when he stumbled from being a little light-headed, she held onto him tightly to keep him from falling over. She even kept talking to him to make sure he wouldn't fall asleep when he complained about being tired, fearing his chances of possibly having a slight concussion. It was really sweet to see her so worried about him. Staying still and calm when he was in a hospital was already a hard task for him, but with Leigh-Anne being kind enough to allow him to rest his head on her shoulder, it was just a little bit more manageable. 

She rubbed part of his shaved head and saw how his lips twitched before he licked them.

"I'm sorry I dragged you here," she told him, still rubbing on his head. "I know you didn't want to come but I want to make sure you're okay."

"It's alright. We're gonna be in and out in no time," he muttered sarcastically. Zayn closed his eyes and relished in her touch.

"I have no idea what's taking them so long." She was becoming impatient. She didn't want to be here forever but that's what it looked like.

For another 20 minutes Leigh-Anne allowed Zayn to find comfort in her shoulder and occasionally in her neck whenever she gently shook him when he seemed to doze off. She loosened the bun in his hair and played in it while telling him about the new ideas she had for some songs. Zayn didn't mind at all. He liked being able to be close like this with her, even if he was suffering in a hospital.  He liked being able to hear her voice in his ear and feeling her fingers playing in his hair so much that he was actually upset when they finally called his name.

She secured an arm around him so he wouldn't lose his balance and walked with him to a room behind a nurse. He answered some questions, the nurse took his temperature, blood pressure and other routine things before typing the results on her laptop, promising to return soon. When she did, she gave him some pain killers and someone Leigh-Anne and Zayn assumed was a doctor, put five small stitches in his brow before it was covered with a bandaid. They said that it didn't look like he had a concussion, but that he should stay awake for another eight hours if possible.

Leigh-Anne could see it written on Zayn's face when they were left alone. "This was a complete waste of time," she said, staring at him. "I'm sorry we came here for nothing."

Zayn wanted to nod and tell her yeah, it was, and that's why he didn't want to come, but he decided against it. She was concerned for him, and he didn't want her to feel badly about caring for him. It was the right and professional thing to do afterall.

"Nah, don't be sorry, it's fine. I needed stitches just like you said." Zayn grinned at her, his smile a little dopey from the pain medication. "And my face doesn't hurt anymore so that's a good thing."

Leigh-Anne frowned. "I could've put a bandaid on your face and given you some ibuprofen."

"So?" Zayn continued to smile at her. "I'm okay, that's all that matters, right?"

Leigh-Anne dropped the frown and smiled back at him. She reached for his hand and pulled him close, kissing his lips softly. 

"Right."

Zayn grinned harder. That bottle to the face was worth it.

He wouldn't do it again, though. Fuck that. 

_x

"Don't try and sell me that bullshit, Niall!" Jesy shouted in the otherwise silent establishment.

Jesy had closed down the bar after forcing Perrie and Jade to leave so she could be alone. She had hung up on Niall several times because he had clearly missed every point she made about how Louis needed to apologize to Zayn and that her and the others jobs could be in jeopardy but he kept calling back. 

She poured herself a shot of vodka and drank it in one gulp. Drinking wouldn't bring about an answer to the problems she was facing right now but she was going to anyways to temporarily relieve herself of the stress.

Jesy heard Niall huff in her ear and she rolled her eyes.

"So am I gonna see you again tonight or are you too mad at me?" he asked her. He was frustrated. Yes, Louis could have and should have behaved better than he did, and it was obvious that he had made a terrible first impression on everyone, but Niall saw it as unfair that he should be punished for Louis' bad behavior. He just wanted to see her and maybe go back to her place like they had been. If Louis had ruined things between him and Jesy.

Niall made an angry fist. 

"No," she answered and slammed the shot glass she had just emptied down on the counter. Yeah, she was gonna get fucking wasted tonight. "I don't want to see you."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to!" she snapped. Another shot was poured and gulped down.

Niall scoffed. "Don't bullshit me, Jesy! I'm always straightforward with you, you can tell me why you don't want to see me."

Jesy chuckled. "Because maybe you're just a good fuck who looks like he's getting too attached and I want some distance from you," she said lowly.

'She didn't mean it,' Niall told himself. Jesy was coldhearted, he knew that, but she didn't mean that just now. He knew she liked him back, the feelings they shared were mutual even if she was still guarded around him. 

"Okay," Niall replied and hung up.

Jesy gasped and looked at her phone. She didn't think he would actually hang up on her! Jesy shook her head and took yet another shot and felt the bar begin to spin around her.

She took five more shots before she decided that she was good and ready to go. Jesy sluggishly put on her outerwear, dropped the keys twice while trying to lock the door and stumbled on her way out of it. She hiccuped and giggled to herself when she almost tripped, attempting to walk straight while she was drunk was always fun. 

"Where do you think you're going?" Jesy heard come from somewhere on her way to her car. She ignored it like always, it was late and men were disgusting.

"Answer me!" they yelled at her.

"None of your fucking business!" she yelled back, not turning around to confront him. She just needed to make it to her car. 'Shit, do I even have my keys? Did I leave them in the bar?' she asked herself and reached into her coat pocket, panicking for a split second before feeling them.

"It is my fucking business!" he yelled back.

Jesy felt a hand on her shoulder and before she knew it, she had been spun around and staring right into her favorite pair of blue eyes that looked angry and concerned.

"Why are you here?" she spat, ripping herself away from him so fast that she almost fell over but Niall caught her just in time.

"Because I had a feeling you would decide to do something stupid like drink and drive, and you're too good of a fuck for me to let you die like that or kill someone else and ruin your life," he explained. "Look at you, you can't even walk. How did you think you were going to drive?"

Jesy lifted up a finger, smiled drunkenly, and tapped Niall on his nose. "I am and excellent drunk driver. I passed my road test tipsy on some Gin," she admitted. Jesy laughed at his shocked reaction. 'He's so cute,' she thought and licked her lips.

"I'm sure you did," Niall muttered. He didn't doubt that at all. "I'm taking you home," he told her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her in the opposite direction by her hand.

Jesy hummed and nodded. "And then what?" she asked.

"I'm putting you to bed."

"Yeah? Put me to bed how?" she pushed. Niall might've been angry at her for wanting to drive intoxicated and because of what she said to him, but he definitely wouldn't be upset enough to turn down sex with her. And if he thought she was wild before, he hadn't seen anything yet. Drunk Jesy was 10 times nastier than sober Jesy.

Niall stopped in his tracks, Jesy stumbled into his back. He turned to her and winked. "You know how."

"I can't wait," Jesy said excitedly, following Niall when he began to walk again. 

He was lying. He was going to make sure she put on something comfortable, force her to drink enough water because she smelled like she had taken a bath in Vodka, and then tuck her into bed. He hadn't decided if he would stay or not. After what she had said, she didn't deserve him staying and making sure she would be okay throughout the night.

Something clicked in Jesy's hazy mind when she finally climbed into Niall's car. 

"When did you come back?" From what she could recall, Dex had thrown him out after Louis.

Niall reached over Jesy to grab her seatbelt and buckled her in when she hadn't moved to. He started his car and sighed, turning to look her in her glassy eyes and frowned.

"I never left, Jesy." He quickly bit his bottom lip. "I never left."

_xxx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...What's up, y'all? It's been long enough since I've updated, I'm sure we can all agree on that lol So I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Comment, kudos, all of that jazz. I'll edit this later, I just wanted to update for you guys because your patience with me is A fucking 1, lemme tell you lmao
> 
> If you can't tell by now, Zeigh and Nesy are my favs lol But don't worry, Leigharry and Jiam will have their turns again.
> 
> How do you guys feel about "Glory Days"? I'm considering doing a Glory Days one shot/song fic book. Anyone interested in reading it? Let me know in the comments!
> 
> Anything new happening for yall? 
> 
> -Outtie (and hopefully not for another year because wtf?) Janiece xx


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